The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Chen Mingshu naturally had this concern from his perspective, but in Guangzhou, everyone agreed that the Fourth Army founded by Ye Ting and now commanded by Chen Fei was the Fourth Army that developed from Marshal Sun's armored vehicle team.

Besides, the founder of the Fourth Army and even the Guangdong Army is also in Guangzhou.

Chen Tianheng and Ye Ting met Yao Yuping.

Yao Yuping, who is this?

"Xuzhou has been the site of over fifty large-scale wars throughout history. The merits and demerits of these wars are difficult to discern..."

"Back then, the late Prime Minister led the revolutionary army in three directions, converging at Xuzhou and marching north. The day after Xuzhou was recaptured, the Qing emperor, realizing the situation was hopeless, abdicated. It was in April of the 17th year of the Republic of China, on the outskirts of Xuzhou, that I had the honor of leading hundreds of thousands of warriors..."

Skip the rest and look at "Recovery of Xuzhou" and "Abdication of the Qing Emperor", that's all.

After the Wuchang Uprising in 1911, Guangdong responded by declaring independence and elected Hu Hanmin as governor. Hu Hanmin ordered Yao Yuping to be the commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Northern Expedition Army to prepare for the Northern Expedition.

Yao Yuping selected elite troops from the Guangdong New Army at that time to form an 8000-man mixed brigade, which was composed of two regiments, with artillery, machine guns, supplies, engineering, guards, and medical teams, and was equipped with 18-barreled mountain cannons.

In this mixed brigade were Ye Chucang, Zou Lu, Lin Zhen, Zhang Wen, Luo Chiyang, Li Jishen, Chen Mingshu and others, who served as battalion commanders, company commanders or staff officers.

混成旅于1911年12月8日从广州乘船出发，抵达上海。1912年1月,南北议和未成,孙中山命革命军分三路北上进击徐州。其中两路打着打着打不动了，唯独姚雨平的混成旅士气旺盛,愈战愈猛,先后攻占固镇、宿县,在徐州和袁世凯的北洋第9镇死磕一场,北洋军全线溃败,姚雨平2月11日光复徐州。

On February 12, the Qing emperor announced his abdication.

After the founding of the Republic of China, Yao Yuping reorganized the Guangdong Anti-Luotu Army into the Fourth Army, which was composed of the 22nd and 24th regiments (divisions). This was the earliest Fourth Army.

Later, Sun Yat-sen resigned from the post of provisional president, and Yao Yuping also disbanded the Fourth Army and retired from the army. He never led troops to fight again, leaving only the legend of a mixed brigade defeating a town of the Beiyang Army.

Later, when Sun Yat-sen reorganized and established the Northern Expedition Army, the first number that the Cantonese people grabbed was "4", which was also related to Yao Yuping.

Yao Yuping, now an old man in his forties and approaching fifty, saw Chen Tianheng and Ye Ting coming to visit him and stood up and said, "General Chen, Commander Ye, hello."

Chen Tianheng: "Counselor Yao has returned to Guangzhou and joined the coalition government as a government counselor. We in the revolutionary army are all very happy about this."

"I hadn't been to Nanjing before," Yao Yuping said, "even though Chiang Kai-shek offered me the position of Military Commissioner. I've been living in Hong Kong. The revolution hadn't yet succeeded, and the country was in turmoil. As a veteran of the revolution, it was my duty to contribute. However, I'm no longer capable of leading troops in battle. I can only serve as a censor in the government and speak out for the country."

Ye Ting: "Senior Yao, the Guangdong Army's fame first spread throughout the country, and it was your Guangdong Anti-Japanese Army that first spread throughout the country."

Yao Yuping: "After that, the Guangdong Army also became famous throughout the country. I followed the battles of Hesheng Bridge, Tingsi Bridge, and Wuchang. But I want to ask, is the First Army considered the Guangdong Army, or the Party Army?"

Chen Tianheng: "The origin of the revolutionary army is not important; what matters is fighting for the revolution. The First Army's personnel are primarily from Guangdong, but they also include officers and soldiers from all over the country. Furthermore, the revolutionary army is currently intentionally training military commanders from all regions and provinces across the country. This isn't about egalitarianism, of course, but it's best to have at least one commander from each region or province."

Yao Yuping: "General Chen's idea is correct. A national revolution cannot be successful with the efforts of one province alone. It requires many people, from all over the country, to join hands."

Chen Tianheng: "Only a revolutionary army and a revolutionary party composed of comrades from all over the country have the determination to carry the revolution through to the end."

"I've heard that, too," Yao Yuping said. "When I returned to Guangdong, someone told me that the Guangzhou government was good in every way, but there were too many voices within it that advocated for 'separate peace.' But the next day, I met another group of guests, and they said the Guangzhou government was good in every way, but it was just too obsessed with unifying the country."

Chen Tianheng: "So, this is what I'm most looking forward to you doing for us now."

"I'll do my best. After all, my face is quite convincing," Yao Yuping said. "But, Chief Chen, in my opinion, the matter isn't that serious."

Chen Tianheng and Ye Ting: "Oh?"

Yao Yuping: "Victory. Victory is the best propaganda for unification. As long as you continue to win, those who oppose unification will ultimately be no match for the unification voices."

Nanjing.

"Peace, peace, Mr. President Chiang, the most important thing now is peace." Chiang Kai-shek met with Miles Lampson, the British Minister to China in Nanjing. The stubborn old British knight kept talking about "peace" every three sentences.

"Mr. President, I don't think there's any need for the Nanjing and Guangzhou governments to fight to the death. It's already difficult for your two regimes to destroy each other. I think the results of the two recent short wars have proven everything. China needs peace. You, like Guangzhou, have many other things to do besides fighting."

Chiang Kai-shek: "Mr. Minister, this is China's internal affairs."

Lampson: "I certainly have no intention of interfering in China's internal affairs, but the British Empire hopes for a peaceful China. This is in our own interests as well as the interests of the vast majority of your people."

Chiang Kai-shek: "Although the Guangzhou government has temporarily ceased hostilities with us, its clandestine activities have never ceased. Today, Guangzhou government guerrillas have quietly penetrated northern Jiangxi and established a so-called base area along the Yangtze River. In western Hunan, the rural independence movement instigated by the Communist Party has spread from western Hunan to western Hubei. Wherever the rural independence movement reaches, rural landlords' land is seized, and many are even murdered. The Nationalist government will absolutely not tolerate this kind of encroachment on us."

Lampson: "Mr. President, of course, this is China's internal affairs, and I have no intention of interfering. But from the perspective of the UK, or the international community, I would like to remind you: the murder of a rural landlord is merely a criminal case; if your troops emerge from the barracks and fight in the countryside, then that's civil war. As far as I know, a diplomatic delegation sent by your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Military Industry is visiting the UK. Their purpose is to purchase arms from the UK. But as everyone knows, the UK cannot sell heavy arms to a country in the midst of civil war."

Chiang Kai-shek cleared his throat vigorously but did not speak. He might have been angry, or he might have had nothing to refute Lampson.

T.V. Soong: "Mr. Minister, we have one more thing to formally inform your country: You have established an embassy and consulate in Guangzhou, where anti-government armed forces are entrenched, and have established quasi-diplomatic relations with our rebels. This is a disrespect for China's sovereignty and a disguised recognition of a separatist government."

Lampson: "The UK has always respected China's sovereignty. The consulate in Guangzhou is to provide assistance to British citizens when traveling to and from Guangdong and nearby areas, and to facilitate Chinese citizens in applying for passports and visas. Moreover, the consulate in Guangzhou is under the leadership of the Nanjing Legation and is a branch office of the Nanjing Legation."

T.V. Soong: “In addition, British arms manufacturers were also in contact with the rebels in Guangzhou, promoting arms sales and possibly even signing arms sales contracts with Guangzhou.”

Lampson shook his head decisively in denial: "These rumors are completely groundless. Britain will not sell any arms to the Guangzhou government of China unless you obtain the consent of your Nanjing government."

Guangzhou.

The "arms manufacturer" mentioned by T.V. Soong was in Guangzhou. Swager Judy, sales manager of Marconi.

"Radio stations, of course, Marconi's are the best. What, you want six complete sets? Excellent."

Randy thought he could buy one or two sets of equipment, but he ended up needing six.

The revolutionary government will build wireless radio stations in Guangzhou, Chaozhou, Shaoguan, Hengyang, Changsha and Ganzhou.

Mao Runmin: "You need a radio to listen to the radio station. No, no, no, don't say 'can be imported from the UK,' Mr. Judy. I'm sure you know that our country can't afford so many imported radios."

"Marconi will not sell you a complete set of equipment for a radio manufacturing plant unless Marconi invests in a radio factory in Guangzhou and holds a controlling stake."

Swagger Judy is quite arrogant, a common trait among British businessmen of this era.

Mao Runmin: "According to the current laws of the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government, foreign investment is not allowed to control electronics factories."

Swagger Judy spread her hands and said, "Then let's import radios."

Mao Runmin: "If we import radios, your company's market share in my country will definitely not reach 49%."

Chapter 53: Return to Huangpu

Guangzhou contacted Marconi and also had contact with General Electric of Britain, General Electric of the United States, and Westinghouse Electric Company, of course, in order to establish the manufacturing capacity of radio equipment in the country.

The current domestic manufacturing base is like a blank sheet of paper. Radio equipment manufacturing, or the embryonic form of the electronics industry, is as white and transparent as a blank sheet of paper. To take the first step, you must first build a radio factory.

Actually, there are radio factories in Shanghai now... but they simply make radio casings. Even for radio casings, the iron sheets are imported.

Guangzhou's plan was to also take over the production of radio components. Of course, the first production plant to go into operation would be the casing workshop, which would likely produce a replica radio for sale within a few months. Simultaneously, a factory would be built to produce the internal parts.

Things like power transformers, electromagnetic oscillators, small speakers, and vacuum tubes (amplifiers) will also be key components in future voice radios and walkie-talkies.

By the way, there are already companies in the United States and the United Kingdom that are developing voice radios that can be installed in cars.

"Manager Swagger Judy, frankly speaking, your company has probably lost an opportunity to do a big business with China."

"You might regret it in a few years."

Marconi Company and Mao Runmin reached an agreement on the export of several sets of radio broadcasting equipment, 20 light-weight field radios (Morse code) and 20 army-level radios. However, Marconi Company was not interested in exporting complete sets of radio factory equipment and only exported three machine tools for manufacturing electromagnetic oscillators to Guangzhou.

Whampoa Military Academy.

Headquarters of the Young Military Association.

"Instructor Xiong, I think the headquarters of the Qing Army Union can be moved to the General Staff and the General Political Department."

"I've been thinking about this, too. The Youth Army League isn't just for Whampoa, nor is it just an organization for the various branch campuses of Whampoa. It's now a political work organization for revolutionary soldiers. ... But now, military commanders recognize Whampoa, or even admire it. Whether they're from Whampoa or not, they all dream of visiting the Whampoa Military Academy—taking a look around."

After the Huangpu Ganzhou branch was established and operated normally, Xiong Xiong was transferred back to the Huangpu Military Academy headquarters in Guangzhou and served as the chairman of the Youth Army League.

Now the Young Military Officers' Union is not only a party organization for Whampoa students and graduates, but also a revolutionary united front organization that includes members of the Communist Party and the left-wing Kuomintang in the army.

The political assessment of senior commanders in the revolutionary army was conducted jointly by the Youth Army Federation and the General Political Department. The Youth Army Federation provided detailed reasons, and the General Political Department issued the final evaluation conclusion.

Chen Tianheng: "During their time at headquarters, mid-level commanders inevitably took various courses and conducted military research at Whampoa. Changzhou Island, considered the birthplace of the revolutionary army, would be a frequent destination for them. As the revolutionary army grew stronger, the work undertaken by the Qingjun League would become increasingly similar to that of a military-political organization... Jiang Xianyun even mentioned the Qingjun League several times at the last meeting of army chiefs."

Xiong Xiong: "Comrade Jiang Xianyun is the founder of the Youth Army League. But you, General Chen, are also one of the founders. 'Young Soldiers' still has the original manuscripts of your previous articles. And they want to see your new articles."

Chen Tianheng: "I will write this later, but I don't have much time recently."

"Young Soldiers" was founded by Jiang Xianyun when the first class of Whampoa Military Academy was still in school. Later, "Young Soldiers" was divided into two magazines, "Chinese Soldiers" and "Young Soldiers". The former is a military and political reading material for all revolutionary soldiers, while the latter is more inclined towards cadets studying in military academies and newly graduated officers.

"Young Soldiers" also has political propaganda attributes, but the main battlefield of military propaganda is not "Young Soldiers", but the Red Star Publishing House and its journal "Red Star".

"Chief Chen!"

In the editorial department of Red Star, the editor on duty, Mu Qianbi, a graduate of the seventh class of the Whampoa Military Academy, stood up and saluted.

Chen Tianheng: "Now that President Guo Moruo is stationed in Yingshan permanently, who is responsible for the daily work of the Red Star Society?"

"When President Guo was in Guangzhou, he wasn't involved in day-to-day operations," the editor said. "The direct leader of Red Star Press and Red Star is now Minister Tian Han."

"Oh. It's Teacher Tian."

Chen Tianheng had to call Tian Han teacher. When he was at Hunan No. 1 Normal School, Tian Han was a substitute teacher of Chinese and taught Chen Tianheng.

"what is this?"

Chen Tianheng, who was inspecting the editorial office, saw a line of words written on the small blackboard in the editorial office. One of the words was:

【Chen Tianheng-31/2】

Look at the other names and numbers... "Is this the list of overdue submissions by the authors of Red Star?"

"Haha, yes, Chief Chen."

Chen Tianheng: "Why do I owe so many manuscripts?"

"When President Chen She handed over his work three years ago, he left the editorial department with an account book. It stated that you had to write two articles for Red Star Publishing House every month. If you didn't write enough in a given month, you would be recorded as owed."

Chen Tianheng: "I just said that casually while we were having dinner... No, now that Chen Kang of the Red Star Society is no longer in charge, why are you still holding on to the old score?"

"But now Mr. Lu Xun and President Guo Moruo both feel that this account must be kept."

Chen Tianheng: "Then can you please move this blackboard to a place where people can't easily see it?"

"No, Chief Chen," the editor shook his head. "This is Red Star magazine's business card. It must be placed in the most conspicuous place."

Chen Tianheng: "Editor Mu, right? You won't have any lines in this book anymore."

Chen Tianheng came to Changzhou Island to visit the Whampoa Military Academy because Ye Jianying had returned from the Soviet Union a few days ago.

Ye Jianying was in the Soviet Union inspecting the Soviet military education system, while Liu Bocheng was doing "academic exchanges" at the Frunze Institute of Advanced Staff. Ye Jianying's inspection schedule was relatively short, just a few months, while Liu Bocheng's was a little longer.

"It's a little hard to believe, but I visited three junior military academies in the Soviet Union, and their academy systems and educational philosophies haven't changed much in the past five years."

"I thought Whampoa was established in 1924 with Soviet assistance. Now it's 1929, so their own military academy should have some new progress and changes. But when I got there, I saw none."

Chen Tianheng: "So, how do we run the junior military academy next? The Soviet Union can't provide much help. We have to figure it out on our own."

Ye Jianying: "Sometimes I think the Soviet Union's junior military academies should learn a little from us. But we can't really shut ourselves off and admire our own strengths. In 1930 I plan to visit Britain, France, and Germany."

Chen Tianheng: "But I'm not sure the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can contact the UK, France, and Germany to allow our delegation to visit their military academies. Germany might be able to, but it's especially hard to say about the UK and France."

Ye Jianying: "Yes, we will go to as many countries as we have contacted."

After talking about the junior military academies that train high school graduates to become second lieutenants (junior college) and lieutenants (undergraduate), Ye Jianying talked about the Soviet Union's intermediate advanced military academies, such as the Frunze Military Academy.

In this regard, there was something worth learning from Frunze, as Chen Tianheng also noted in his report after returning to China. Ye Jianying also conducted a detailed investigation of the military academy's operations, organizational structure, and other details while in Frunze, aiming to improve and refine the Whampoa Military Academy's procedures for mid-level officers to advance to advanced levels.

Of course, this also needs to be combined with the current revolutionary army's political work quality assessment process for mid-level officers promoted to senior positions.

The Soviet Union's Advanced Staff Academy is a higher level than the intermediate military academy. After Ye Jianying's inspection, he concluded that "the War Research Institute (formerly the War Research Association) is superior to the Soviet Union's Advanced Staff Academy in all aspects."

Chen Tianheng: "Foreign Minister Chen Youren is currently visiting the Soviet Union. The scope of his consultations includes theoretical discussions and exchanges between China and the Soviet Union on armored deep warfare. If both sides reach an agreement, the Soviet Union will send a delegation of officers to visit us shortly. The War Research Institute is now the main venue for research on armored warfare."

Ye Jianying: "Then we must prepare to receive the Soviet delegation. Should we let them visit the Zhuzhou fortifications?"

The Zhuzhou fortification complex is a section of the defensive fortifications built by the Guangxi clique in Zhuzhou-Xiangtan between the First and Second Anti-encirclement and Suppression Campaigns.

During the second counter-encirclement and suppression campaign, when the 1st, 4th and 5th Armies launched an attack on the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan defensive fortification belt, the Guangxi clique took some "cooperation" measures at the reminder of our messenger. The Guangxi clique garrison in Zhuzhou fled early, and our army occupied a relatively complete section of defensive fortifications. Now this group of fortifications east of Zhuzhou is used by the revolutionary army to practice various offensive and defensive tactics of permanent fortifications.

The existing Zhuzhou fortifications are a 4.4-kilometer-long and 2-kilometer-deep defense area consisting of permanent trenches, communication trenches, anti-artillery bunkers, brick and stone bunkers, and concrete bunkers. There are 29 brick and stone bunkers and 5 reinforced concrete bunkers.

After being used as a training ground by the revolutionary army, the General Staff felt that the bunkers originally built by the Guangxi clique were not dense enough, so they added 8 more bunkers. During every offensive and defensive exercise, the defending division and the attacking division would go back and forth in the defense area, having a lot of fun.

Chen Tianheng: "If it's mentioned in the Sino-Soviet agreement, then let the Soviets go and take a look and study it together. If it's not mentioned, then don't go. We can just study deep operations and armored mobile operations together."

"Sir, this is the price quoted by the British Vickers company. Vickers MK.E tank, £3750 each."

Chen Tianheng received a list of prices for imported equipment compiled by the General Armaments Department. Chen Tianheng replied, "3750 pounds per vehicle, or 40,000 yuan. It doesn't seem expensive." Nie Rongzhen replied, "Yes, it's a reasonable price."

Chen Tianheng: "Is it Vickers' A configuration or B configuration?"

Nie Rongzhen: "Configuration A. Configuration B is priced at 4200 pounds. It's not too expensive."

Chen Tianheng: "Neither Configuration A nor Configuration B is actually the tank the armored forces want, but now they have to buy a batch from the UK. The armored forces can't use the Renault FT-17 for training."

After the teaching division defeated the Wan'an counter-encirclement and suppression campaign, the six Renault FT-17s were returned to the Whampoa Military Academy and used as teaching aids to explain the basic structure of tanks to the students.

After the first battle of armored mobile warfare in Jiangxi, the armored regiment of the training division could no longer tolerate the Renault FT-17.

这坦克最大速度才16公里/小时,装甲团实际上的公路战术行军速度是40公里/小时,越野行军速度也有5-25公里/小时。所以在江西的几次战斗中，雷诺FT-17都是拖后腿的。

In addition to its slow speed, the Renault FT-17 also had a high failure rate, especially its semi-rigid suspension chassis, which made a lot of rattling noises when driving off-road.