The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

"Yes, we are planning to establish such an organization. But this organization will be under the leadership of me or another Huangpu Party branch secretary in the future. It is openly stated that we will be the leaders. Chen Tianheng, what are your thoughts?"

Chen Tianheng: "I plan to set up a 'War Research Society'."

Chapter 32

June 16, 1924. Early morning.

The main drill ground of the Whampoa Military Academy.

The first batch of 465 new students of Huangpu Military Academy and Huangpu instructors and teachers lined up in the main playground.

Chen Tianheng looked around and it seemed... there weren't many people.

Forget about anything else. Even at the opening ceremony of the school sports meet, even if two or three thousand students were to fill a stadium, it wouldn't be enough. Looking down from above, the four hundred-plus first-term students would only make up seven or eight rows of people.

The first batch of students reported to the school on May 5. After a month of basic queue training, these students who came from all over the country can already stand neatly together in rows and columns. With their brand new military uniforms and top hats, the more than 5 students look majestic and powerful.

At 6 o'clock sharp, Sun Yat-sen appeared in a Zhongshan suit, and Soong Ching Ling also came and stood beside Sun Yat-sen.

President Chiang Kai-shek was already waiting in the playground to greet Sun Yat-sen. He was dressed in a neat military uniform, and beside him was his wife, Song… Song… wrong, Chen Jieru.

Upon his arrival, Sun Yat-sen first shook hands with Soviet Chief Advisor Pavel Pavlov, then Hu Hanmin, and then Chiang Kai-shek. Then came the chief instructor He Yingqin, Li Jishen, Deng Yanda, Wang Boling, Ye Jianying, Dai Jitao, Zhou Enlai, and other directors and vice directors of various teaching departments.

"Guests, teachers, and students."

"Today is the first day of school. Why do we have this school? Why do we have to open this school?"

"Gentlemen, you must know that China's revolution has lasted for thirteen years, and the result we have now is only the name of the Republic of China, but not the reality of the Republic of China. So it seems that the thirteen years of the Chinese revolution, until today, have yielded only an empty name. Therefore, China's thirteen-year revolution was a complete failure, and it remains a failure even today."

Sun Yat-sen delivered a speech to all teachers and students.

In fact, Sun Yat-sen chose today as the day for the opening ceremony because two years ago - on June 16, 1922, Chen Jiongming betrayed the revolution (or broke up with Sun Yat-sen) and drove Sun Yat-sen out of Guangzhou.

Sun Yat-sen had been engaged in revolution for nearly thirty years since he founded the Xingzhonghui. Now he was 56 years old, and ended up with no place to stand in China. This was undoubtedly a huge failure and blow.

Sun Yat-sen then took a gamble, learning from Russia, collaborating with the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, establishing the Whampoa Military Academy, and planning the Northern Expedition. He might have thought that this was probably the last revolution he would undertake in his lifetime.

In his speech, Sun Yat-sen first admitted that his own revolution had been a failure for more than a decade, and then said that Russia's revolution six years ago was successful.

The Russian Tsar was a native of the Chinese nation, while the Qing emperor was a foreigner. Tsarist Russia's power and military were far greater than those of the Qing. After the Russian Revolution, the world sent troops to intervene. However, after the Xinhai Revolution in China, there was no intervention, yet the Russian Revolution succeeded. Therefore, we should learn from Russia.

……

"Hey, what did Mr. Sun say just now? I didn't understand a few words. I couldn't follow what he said and then I couldn't understand anything."

To the left of Chen Tianheng is Team 3 of the students, and next to him is Guan Linzheng.

Guan Linzheng was from Shaanxi. Sun Yat-sen's speeches were in Mandarin with a strong Cantonese influence. According to the Chinese dialect map, it is indeed difficult for people from the northwest to understand Cantonese.

"Mr. Sun was just saying, what is the foundation for those who aspire to be part of the revolutionary army? It must be profound knowledge. Only with profound knowledge can one have boldness; and only with boldness can one become a revolutionary army."

"Advanced knowledge?!"

Guan Linzheng rubbed his head and said, "I thought it was the revolutionary spirit of facing death with equanimity and righteousness that was fundamental."

Chen Tianheng: "Of course, the revolutionary army also needs the revolutionary spirit of being ready to die, but many people overlook the profound knowledge. Being ready to die is the revolutionary army's belief, and profound knowledge is the foundation for winning the war."

Guan Linzheng's military career can be summed up in one word: fierce. He fought relentlessly and charged fiercely, earning him the nickname "the Qin warrior." Fresh out of school, Guan Linzheng, a platoon leader in the Whampoa Military Academy's teaching corps, led his entire platoon in the Eastern Expedition, but was shot in the leg and nearly had his leg amputated. During the Battle of the Great Wall in 1933, he led a group charging Gubeikou and was wounded in five places by grenade fragments.

In 1936, Guan Linzheng was ordered to intercept the Red Army's Eastern Expedition. He led a division to confront the 25th Red Army, a battle that left both sides bruised and battered. His opponent was Xu Haidong... By the way, where is Xu Haidong now?

After Sun Yat-sen finished his speech, Hu Hanmin, the chief councilor of the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government, read out the Prime Minister's written instructions: The Three Principles of the People are the creed of our party. We will build the Republic of China and advance the Great Harmony. I advise you, the soldiers, to be the vanguard of the people, work tirelessly day and night, follow the principles, be diligent and courageous, be faithful and loyal, and carry them through to the end.

Dissolution.

……

"Chen Tianheng, Chen Tianheng."

Guan Linzheng called out to Chen Tianheng from behind, "You were trying your best to persuade me about your 'War Research Society' a few days ago, and now with Mr. Sun's speech today, are you going to persuade me again in a couple of days?"

Chen Tianheng: "Haha, isn't that obvious? But this isn't called winning over, this is called finding like-minded people."

Guan Linzheng: "Zhuge Liang was wise in governing the country and became prime minister, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were brave and became generals, but I don't want to be a prime minister."

Chen Tianheng: "Wouldn't it be nice to be a famous general who is both wise and brave? Like Zhao Zilong, like me."

"Hahahahaha..."

Chen Tianheng deliberately followed a serious remark with a narcissistic and arrogant remark, which really made Guan Linzheng laugh. "Chen Tianheng, you are considered tall for a southerner, but do you dare to fight me?"

Jiaodi, an ancient Chinese wrestling style.

"Okay, let's go to the sand court over there," Chen Tianheng agreed immediately, "But if I win, will you..."

"If you win, I'll join the War Research Society immediately, no questions asked. If I win, well, that doesn't necessarily mean I won't join. It depends on whether I want to join in the future."

In fact, Guan Linzheng had no ill feelings towards the "War Research Society" founded by Chen Tianheng. He just spent a lot of time in it and felt that it was too literary.

The War Research Society applied for a small classroom, which was filled with books and maps.

It would be fine if it were just full of books, but there are also a lot of foreign books!

The books were also categorized, but not by language, with English on one shelf and French on another. Instead, they were divided into categories like tactics, campaign science, military topography, logistics, etc. If you picked up a book on any shelf, you might find it was a foreign language book.

...My head hurts.

"No! Right! Fighting on the first day of school?"

Who else could say this? Chen Geng.

Members of the War Research Society and the friends Chen Tianheng had made in the past month came to the sand field (sand pit) at the west end of the playground, surrounded by a crowd of twenty or thirty people who were extremely excited.

Xu Jishen: "Chen Tianheng is a little bit taller, but Guan Linzheng has more flesh on his body. It's a 50-50 match. It looks like a good fight."

Huang Wei: "Ji Shen, this is wrestling. Being tall is not an advantage. Guan Linzheng is short and heavy. I think Guan Linzheng has at least a 60% chance of winning."

Jiang Xianyun: "So, you want to detain Guan Linzheng?"

In the bunker, Chen Tianheng looked at Guan Linzheng and said, "That's enough. Best of five?"

"Okay, best of five!" Guan Linzheng said to Chen Tianheng with his hands clasped together.

Chen Geng: "First round, begin!"

...15 seconds later, Guan Linzheng's butt was stuck deep in the sand pit, with his legs up in the air.

Chen Geng: "Second round, begin!"

Half a minute later, Guan Linzheng was pushed out of the bunker.

Chen Geng: "The third round..."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Guan Linzheng patted the sand off his body, "I'll adjust it."

So Chen Tianheng and everyone else waited patiently for Guan Linzheng to shake his head, move his joints all over his body again, gather his strength, and then go on stage.

"The third game begins!"

Twenty seconds later, Guan Linzheng collapsed in the sand pit, his face buried in it. Chen Tianheng waited for Chen Geng to announce the winner, then pulled Guan Linzheng out of the pit. The Shaanxi native spat out the river sand in his mouth and sat down, gasping for breath.

"If you want to accept the loss, give me the money."

Chen Geng and Jiang Xianyun flanked Huang Wei. Huang Wei, with a bitter face, dug into his pocket and pulled out two yuan. Chen Geng and Jiang Xianyun each took one. He then said, unconvinced, "According to my theory, Chen Tianheng's chance of winning is also 40 percent. But he's been winning so quickly for three consecutive games. This is unbelievable."

Chen Geng and Jiang Xianyun looked at each other and laughed.

According to Chen Tianheng, this is probably called... information asymmetry?

Huang Wei had never seen how Chen Tianheng kidnapped and captured arsonists in the Yuebei Farmers and Workers Association, but they both knew.

……

Chen Tianheng in the sand pit: "It's 0-3."

Guan Linzheng: "Yes, I lost."

Chen Tianheng laughed and said, "Then, follow me and start to show both wisdom and courage."

"Cough, cough!"

There was a coughing sound outside the crowd. Chen Tianheng turned around and saw Ye Jianying had walked over there without him noticing.

"Report to Instructor Ye! Guan Linzheng and I are wrestling!"

Ye Jianying: "I saw it all."

Ye Jianying entered the Yunnan Military Academy in 1917 and followed Sun Yat-sen after graduating in 1920. He served as Sun Yat-sen's bodyguard, bodyguard captain, and battalion commander of the Marine Corps of the Grand Marshal's Office. He is now the deputy director of the professorial department of Huangpu (director Wang Bailing) and also teaches "Weapons of War".

Huang Wei: "Welcome Instructor Ye to teach us wrestling techniques!"

Then Huang Wei was glared at by Ye Jianying.

Chen Geng, Jiang Xianyun, and Chen Tianheng: ...

"Young people are always full of energy. There's nothing wrong with an occasional competition," Ye Jianying said. "But remember the rules. First, stop when you're ready. No one is allowed to get hurt. It's fine for you to compete in the sandpit today. If you start fighting in the dormitory, I will punish you. Second, don't make enemies. After all, you're all classmates. Chen Tianheng, come here."

Ye Jianying still looked for Chen Tianheng.

……

"Yesterday afternoon, the school received a postal package from Hong Kong. It was addressed to you. According to military academy regulations, we opened it for you. It contained various books. We checked it overnight and it passed. You can pick it up now."

Chen Tianheng saluted: "Understood! Thank you, Instructor Ye."

Ye Jianying: "Major Battles Series: Verdun, the Somme, the Marne, Tannenberg, the Dardanelles. Ground artillery. The use of aircraft in warfare. The French General Staff during the war. Armored fighting vehicles. Your list is quite comprehensive. But I have one thing that I find rather strange:"

"Why are there three volumes of George Bernard Shaw's essays and literary criticism in there?"

Chapter 33

Chen Tianheng asked his cousin Chen Ying to buy the book in Hong Kong and mail it to him.

After the controversy in Uncle Chen's family over "inheritance passed down to sons but not daughters", Uncle Chen Qixian no longer cared about the matter, so Chen Ying went to Hong Kong with 10 yuan. On the one hand, he wanted to make his own way, and on the other hand, it would allow him to be separated from his father so that he wouldn't have to worry about him.

Of course, these books were not read by Chen Tianheng himself, but were placed in the small classroom of the War Research Society for members to read.

The next day, Ye Jianying saw a new bookshelf in the small classroom, categorized as "Humanities and Arts." Besides Shaw's essays and literary criticism, the majority of the books were Chinese, such as those by Lu Xun.

"...You want a sandbox, right? I can get you some wood, but I'm afraid you'll have to make it into a sand trough yourself."

"No problem! We'll do it ourselves! Thank you, Director Ye!"

Ye Jianying: "Also, the sand table requires a lot of sand. Don't go to the construction site on campus to steal sand. Go to the river to dig it yourself."

"Yes!"

Chen Tianheng saluted, Ye Jianying returned the salute, and turned back.

……

"Maoru, a few students have formed a 'War Research Society' and have invited me to attend their regular seminars every Wednesday night. Starting next week, I won't have any social events scheduled on Wednesday nights."

After returning to the office, Ye Jianying said something to Wang Bailing, the director of the professorial department.

"Oh, okay," Wang Bailing said. "I think I've heard of the War Research Society. It was Yun Daiying who helped them find a small classroom to use as an activity center. So, have you been there to inspect it?"

"Correct."

Wang Bailing: "Yun Daiying was a Communist. Although the president hasn't said it explicitly, everyone can see that he doesn't like the Communist Party to have too much influence in the military academy. Yun Daiying helped establish this war research society, so I'm really a little worried about that...that. You went to inspect it, what was it like? Does this society have close ties with the Communist Party?"

"I don't see how that could be relevant," Ye Jianying thought back to what he had seen and couldn't help but chuckle. "They're imitating the Prussian War Academy. These kids, haha, say that humanities and arts are part of the overall quality of a staff officer or officer, haha."

"We should learn from foreign countries. Learning from Prussia is not bad either. We Chinese have been learning from Prussia since the New Army in the late Qing Dynasty. Later, we also learned from Japan, Britain, and France. Now we are learning from Russia. Anyway, we must learn from foreign countries."

Since Deputy Director Ye said that he could not see any connection with the Communist Party, Wang Bailing felt relieved.

"Yes, we should learn from foreign countries," Ye Jianying said, "but this War Research Society, this Chen Tianheng, has really high standards."

After saying this last sentence, Ye Jianying went on to do other things.

Wang Bailing wanted to ask but was too embarrassed to do so, so he went around the office and teaching building and finally found Pavlov, the Soviet chief adviser to the military academy.

"Mr. Pavlov, I'd like to ask, what kind of military academy is the Prussian War Academy? What's so special about it?"

Pavlov looked at Wang Bailing in confusion, not quite understanding why he asked such a question.

"The Prussian War College, which no longer exists. In 1919, defeated Germany was required to close it under the Treaty of Versailles."

Wang Bailing: "How powerful was it before it was shut down?"

Pavlov: "The Prussian War Academy. Well, as you may know, the German General Staff is known as the brain of the German Army, and the Prussian War Academy is the birthplace of the thinking of the brain of the German General Staff."

"After the War of 1806, Prussia carried out military reforms. Gerhard von Scharnhorst and a group of officers formed the 'Military Association', a military academic organization to discuss the latest war experiences. In 1810, Scharnhorst and these officers founded this academy."

"During the period when Clausewitz and Lützow served as presidents, Prussia continued to study and draw lessons from Napoleon's military system. The structure of the Prussian War Academy was also finalized during this period."

"It is not a school for non-commissioned officers and junior officers like the Whampoa Military Academy, nor is it a senior training school for promotion to general officers. It is a military academy that also takes into account the training functions of senior staff officers."