The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

There was no change on the streets of Guangzhou in November 1929.

Although Wall Street is now full of frequent flyers and European and American powers are wailing, in fact, at this time, both Nanjing and Guangzhou, the two economies with silver dollars as their main currency, are "doing fine".

In the original history, the Nanjing government of the Republic of China was safe and sound from 1929 to 1933, and even made a small profit, until the US Silver Act was enacted.

"Chen Kangxu stepped forward."

Today was Chen Tianheng's dinner date. The commanders of the First and Fourth Armies, along with Chief of Operations Zhou Shidi, all changed into casual clothes and headed to the usual place.

The rice noodles were served, and before Xu Xiangqian could say anything, Chef Liang pointed to the table and said, "The vinegar jar is over there."

Xu Xiangqian:

Chen Tianheng: "It's been exactly five years since we put down the Guangzhou Merchant Corps Rebellion."

Chen Kang: "I still remember that day during the street fighting, when the student army broke through the wall and advanced, they passed by Master Liang's shop."

"You almost demolished my shop that time. However, after a while, you can demolish it at will. It's your turn. Liang's shop is going to open in another place." Master Liang, who was reading a newspaper with his head down through reading glasses, interjected.

Chen Tianheng: "Master Liang, are you moving to a bigger store? Where's the new store's address?" "It's actually just across the street. Look, you see that house, right? It's closed now. I'm moving over there."

Chen Tianheng saw the store and said, "Not bad. The location is even better than here, and the store is much bigger. ... Master Liang, how's business been lately? Is it always as busy as it is today?"

"Needless to say, the reason I'm opening a shop in a bigger place is because the shop is full during dinner time."

Chapter 56: Agrarian Revolution Circuit Court

"The revolutionary army has now liberated Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, so I plan to take a leave during this Spring Festival and go back to visit my family."

At the dinner table, what Chen Kang talked about most was going back to his hometown to visit his relatives.

Chen Tianheng: "That's not right. In 27, we stopped in Changsha, Zhuzhou, and Xiangtan, and also went to your hometown, Xiangxiang County. After that, we moved south, and your parents moved with our rear guard to Guangzhou."

Chen Kui: "But there are still some aunts and uncles in Xiangxiang County, and mainly my parents want to go back and visit during the Spring Festival."

Chen Tianheng: "Zhou Shidi's hometown is on Hainan Island, so he can go back whenever he wants. The only one left is you, Xu Xiangqian. It seems Yan Xishan, the local tyrant of Shanxi, and you are both from Wutai."

Xu Xiangqian: "Yes. Yan Xishan is practicing his 'village-based politics' and has run Shanxi like an iron barrel. It's very difficult to fight."

Chen Kang: "The difficulty isn't the iron barrel, but the fact that we have to cross at least two provinces to reach Shanxi. We either have to fight our way through Hubei and Henan, or through Sichuan and Shanxi."

Xu Xiangqian: "And Shanxi should not be our priority."

Since 1912, Yuan Shikai appointed Yan Xishan as the governor of Shanxi. Yan Xishan has been in charge of Shanxi for seventeen or eighteen years.

After experiencing the Second Revolution, the Anti-Yuan and National Protection War, the Protection of Law War, and the Northern Expedition, various warlords in the north fought each other in Shanxi Province, but Yan Xishan's base remained unchanged.

In Shanxi, Yan Xishan had long promoted his "people-oriented politics." After the Northern Expedition concluded, he declared his allegiance to the Nanjing government and upgraded his platform from "people-oriented politics" to "village-based politics." Believing that the foundation of administration lay in the village, he partially modernized the baojia system and applied it to Shanxi. He promulgated "Notices to the People" and "Notices to the Family," issued "Village Prohibitions," established village offices, settlement committees, supervisory committees, people's assemblies, and formed "defense corps"—in short, extending his reach into the countryside to govern the peasants.

Now Chiang Kai-shek has publicly praised Shanxi as a model province, saying that if all provinces in the Republic of China had the same rural control as Shanxi, the Communist Party’s rural revolution would not be able to penetrate at all.

You know, after the end of the second anti-encirclement and suppression campaign, Chiang Kai-shek discovered that the peasant movement in western Hunan had quietly spread from western Hunan to southwestern Hubei, and there were already many peasant associations in the rural areas near Yichang and Jingzhou.

I was so scared! I thought the Communist Party was going to attack my five southeastern provinces. However, although the basic base of the five southeastern provinces has not been affected, and the major cities in the Yangtze River Basin have not been affected, it is still annoying that the Communist Party always launches campaigns in the countryside.

But what is interesting is that while Chiang Kai-shek praised Yan Xishan for his good control of the rural areas, when someone from the Nanjing Central Executive Committee proposed inviting Yan Xishan to Nanjing to be in charge of rural reform across the country, and even to set up a "Prime Minister" for Yan Xishan like in Guangzhou, Chiang Kai-shek secretly rejected the proposal.

Yan Xishan must not be used. Who knows what will happen if the entire rural area is handed over to Yan Xishan? He is not one of us.

What Chiang Kai-shek wanted to do was to improve the military strength, build a strong army, and solve problems by force.

Zhuzhou.

Chen Tianheng brought a staff group from the Operations Department of the General Staff to Zhuzhou to inspect the exercises of the attack and defense of permanent fortifications.

"If the defenders do everything they should, this kind of deep and permanent fortification is very difficult to attack and there will be many casualties."

"During our counter-encirclement campaign, the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan Campaign obviously cannot be used as a general example. At that time, the Hunan-Guangxi Army was on this defensive line, and their fighting quality and fighting spirit were still a little lacking. Even so, we were still blocked for two or three days when we tried to break through Zhuzhou and Xiangtan."

Huang Gonglue, Chief of Staff of the Fifth Army, was at the defensive position. A recent offensive and defensive drill between the 13th and 14th Divisions had taken place there. A single regiment of the 13th Division entered the defensive position, while the entire 14th Division attacked, but failed to capture it after three days.

Chen Tianheng: "Regarding the offensive and defensive battles of permanent fortifications, does the Fifth Army have any conclusions or suggestions?"

Huang Gonglue: "On the attacking side, we've concluded that close-range operations and demolition by combat engineers are crucial. Most of the time, this is the only way to break through permanent fortifications and blockhouses. Artillery preparations require a longer timeframe to further weaken the enemy's defenses, but this requires a large number of mountain artillery and mortar rounds, which increases the pressure on logistical supplies. The continued expansion of the breakthrough point is crucial to the success of the entire battle. At all times, the attacking side must retain at least one-third of its combat forces as a general reserve, so that when the defenses are breached, fresh forces can be deployed to the breakthrough point to complete the capture."

"On the defending side, the defensive zones should be clearly demarcated. Different units should be stationed in different defensive zones in depth, each with its own independent command system. Sufficient reserves should also be maintained for counterattacks and to fill breaches. Also, in addition to automatic weapons and mortars, small-caliber flat-fire artillery should be deployed."

Chen Tianheng: "Have you considered the possibility of tanks joining the attack?" Huang Gonglue: "Yes."

Peng Dehuai, standing by, added, "The 75mm mountain guns are not powerful enough to destroy brick and mortar bunkers. This is a major problem for the attackers. We have conducted similar tests with the First Army, and the results are the same."

Huang Gonglue: "General Chen, we need a 105mm or even larger caliber howitzer."

Chen Tianheng: "This is more difficult."

Huang Gonglue: "Is it still technically difficult to produce 105mm howitzers on our own?"

Chen Tianheng: "For the weapons industry, the plan is to have the ability to fully independently produce 75mm mountain guns and large-caliber artillery of 100mm and above by 1935, when the First Five-Year Plan is completed... We intend to directly purchase two motorized 150mm heavy artillery regiments, but the weapons industry will find it difficult to produce them in-house in such a short time."

"Even after these two imported motorized heavy artillery regiments arrive, their movement to the front lines will present a significant challenge. Away from the main highways, the heavy artillery is difficult to maneuver, even with trucks. The multi-ton guns would easily become stuck in the mud. In fact, the General Staff envisioned the independent heavy artillery regiment operating in an anti-landing environment along the Guangdong coast."

原历史线，苏联从1952年开始技术转让和援建工厂，但国产第一款大口径榴弹炮是66式152榴，59式130加其实是1963年才实现关键器件国产化的,这就很能说明问题。

Chen Tianheng thought, why not just buy two squadrons of Ju87s? Not only would the masonry bunkers be blown away, but the reinforced concrete bunkers made of "imported cement" would also be blown away.

Yiyang.

After the counter-encirclement and suppression campaign ended, the revolutionary army's control line in Hunan extended to Changde, Yiyang, and Miluo Town, essentially bounded by the southern shore of Dongting Lake and the Miluo River. The 8th Army, born in western Hunan, now has its headquarters in Changde, with Yiyang serving as the base for the 8th Army's 24th Division.

On the bumpy and rugged road, the General Staff's convoy slowed down, driving cautiously at a speed of about 20 kilometers per hour. Several horses galloped up from behind, their hooves clattering, and unexpectedly surpassed the General Staff's convoy, continuing on their way.

Driver: "Hey, what do they do? They're dressed all right." Chen Tianheng: "This is the Agrarian Revolution Circuit Court, also known as the Court on Horseback. It's the final nail in the coffin of land reform in Xiangxi."

Chen Tianheng saw six people and six horses, which was the standard composition of the Agrarian Revolution Circuit Court: the president of the court who was also the presiding judge, the prosecutor, one judge, one clerk, and two bailiffs who were also guards.

The person riding in front was probably the presiding judge, wearing a court uniform. In his left hand was a metal emblem, the size of Captain America's shield, and in his right was a furled flag. The prosecutor behind him also carried a flag. The judges behind him carried two large backpacks, and the bailiffs and security guards each carried a Thompson submachine gun.

Zhou Shidi: "Interesting. The bailiffs of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Circuit Court only have pistols and lances."

Chen Tianheng: "Driver, control your speed and follow this group. We're on our way anyway, so let's go check out the scene."

The circuit court's cavalry continued along the main road for about an hour before turning onto a field road. Ahead of them, a meter-high platform had been erected on a threshing ground at the entrance of a village. Both below and above the platform were crowded with people. This must be the circuit court's destination.

"The Land Revolution Court, Hunan's Seventh Circuit Court, with Qi Yang as its president, entered Chitang Village, Hanshou County, on December 10th!"

The presiding judge, Qi Yang, spoke loudly, and had the clerk present write this in the circuit court log. The hundreds of villagers gathered in the sunbathing area heard this and all cheered.

The hallmark of the circuit court was speed. This wasn't the time for cases to drag on for months, or even days. One village a day was the optimal pace. Qi Yang hung the iron emblem of the Blue Sky, White Sun, on the wall, unfolded the sickle and hammer flag, and the blue, white, and red ground. He pulled the gavel from his backpack and, before even sitting down, slammed it: "Court in session!"

"Bring the defendant to court!"

"The plaintiff appears in court!"

"Plaintiff's lawyer and defendant's defense counsel appear in court!"

"Plaintiff Zhang San, please make your statement. You can also let your lawyer make his statement."

"I'm a lawyer. My client, Zhang San, is suing Zhang Wanfa and Zhang Yifuzi of Chitang Village, alleging debt collection led to the deaths of Zhang San's father, Zhang Tiegun, and mother, Zhang Wenshi."

Qi Yang quickly read the complaint: "Zhang Wanfa, on the eleventh day of the first lunar month in the twelfth year of the Republic of China, you lent 50 taels of silver to Zhang San's father, Zhang Tiegun. The IOU stated an interest rate of 12 percent and a repayment of the money in one month. Is this true?"

Zhang Wanfa: "It's true."

Zhang San's lawyer said: "Your Honor, the 30% interest on this IOU is actually annual interest, not monthly interest. Zhang San's family must pay 30% interest on the principal every month. Besides that, Zhang Tiegun only received 45 yuan for writing this IOU."

Qi Yang: "Zhang Wanfa, do you agree with the defendant's statement?"

Zhang Wanfa: "Zhang San's father is an old gambler. He lost and wanted to make up for his losses, so he asked me to borrow money. This is how I borrow money for gambling. The term is one month, and nine out of 13 will be returned."

Qi Yang: "Zhang Wanfa, so when you lent him the money, you knew that Zhang Tiegun would use it for gambling?"

Zhang Wanfa: "."

Qi Yang turned another page of the indictment: "...On March 12, 4, Zhang Wanfa and Zhang Yi broke into Zhang San's home, took away a working ox and four sets of farm tools. Is there any witness or physical evidence?"

The lawyer said: "After Zhang Wanfa and Zhang Yi took the cattle away, they sold them in the town. I have a certificate from the cattle dealer here."

Zhang Wanfa's defense lawyer: "Your Honor, words alone are not enough."

Qi Yang: "Zhang Wanfa, do you agree with the oral confession of the cattle buyer? If you don't agree with the oral confession, we will invite the cattle buyer here and bring the cattle here. Whoever kisses the cattle will reveal whose family the cattle originally belonged to."

Zhang San: "It's mine, it's mine! I raised this cow from the age of six to thirteen!"

Zhang Wanfa: "Okay, I sold the cow and deducted the twenty yuan in interest. I wrote it on the IOU."

Qi Yang: "Zhang Wanfa, knowing full well that Zhang Tiegun was going to use the money for gambling, still lent him a loan at high interest rates, violating public order and good morals. After making this illegal loan, Zhang Wannian and Zhang Yi, father and son, abducted Zhang Tiegun's oxen and farm tools, also illegally. The Circuit Court ruled that this loan was invalid, and the Zhang family was not required to repay. The abducted oxen and farm tools were illegal gains for Zhang Wanfa and Zhang Yi, and the Zhang family must return the farm tools and the proceeds from the sale of the oxen to Zhang San in full."

Zhang San: "What about the lives of my father and mother?"

Qi Yang: "Zhang San, please step aside for a moment... The following is the public prosecution of Zhang Wanfa and Zhang Yi, father and son. In the 18th year of the Republic of China, that is, in 1929 AD, on the third day of May, the Hanshou County Farm Guard arrived in Chitang Village to implement land reform. Zhang Wanfa, on the third day of May, what were you doing?"

Zhang Wanfa and Zhang Yi: "." The two pretended to be dumb again.

"On the third day of May, while the peasant guards were implementing the land reform in Chitang Village, Zhang Wanfa and his son Zhang Yi stubbornly defended the Zhang family compound, refusing entry to the land reform team and ordering their servants to shoot at the peasant guards."

Defense attorney: "Prosecutor, presiding judge, this was an accidental discharge of a gun by the Zhang family's security guards."

Prosecutor: "According to the accounts of the agricultural guards and the people at the scene, dozens of shots were fired from the Zhang family compound that day. We also dug up 27 bullet heads outside the compound."

Defense attorney: "The Zhang family's guards' guns accidentally discharged dozens of times."

Prosecutor: "The prosecution disagrees with the claim that 'the servant's gun accidentally went off dozens of times.' The prosecution believes that it was Zhang Yi who ordered the servant to shoot, and the Zhang family servant's confession is consistent with this theory. The prosecution believes that during the land reform in Chitang Village on May 3rd, the Zhang family used force to resist the reform. According to Section 11, Article 29 of the Land Revolution Law of the Republic of China and Article 5 of the Special Decree for the Suppression of Counter-Revolutionaries, the Zhang family father and son committed the crime of armed rebellion and must be punished by law."

Qi Yang: "Did the servant's gun accidentally go off dozens of times, or did Zhang Yi order the servant to shoot? We invite the people's jury to deliberate and vote."

As soon as he finished speaking, 13 hands in the jury box were raised in unison.

Qi Yang picked up the gavel and struck it again. "This court now rules: Zhang Wanfa lent money to Zhang Tiegun in violation of public order and good morals, and robbed Zhang Tiegun's oxen and farm tools, thus committing robbery. This robbery led to the suicide of Zhang Tiegun and his wife, Zhang Wenshi. Therefore, Zhang Wanfa should be sentenced to five years in prison. On the third day of May, during the land reform in Chitang Village, Zhang Wanfa and Zhang Yi committed armed rebellion and should be sentenced to death. The Circuit Court and the jury have ruled that Zhang Wanfa is guilty of the charges."

Chen Tianheng checked his watch. 1:50 p.m.

From 10 a.m. till now, this circuit court has executed three people in two waves.

Zhou Shidi: "It looks like the Circuit Court will be able to take care of Chitang Village before dark today."

Chen Tianheng: "Okay, let's continue on our journey. We're going to Changde to eat He Long tonight."

Chapter 57: Passage into Sichuan

"The General Staff must find a passage from Hunan to Sichuan."

"Main requirement: The ability to move large military groups. The minimum standard is to move an army group and its associated logistics and transport forces, with a scale of 10 troops, within three weeks."

Chen Tianheng made this request to He Long and the 8th Army General Staff in Changde. He Long said: "Sichuan, the ancients said that the road to Shu is difficult, as difficult as climbing to the sky. I have done business in Sichuan before. It's not that there are no roads, but they are not easy to travel."

"Director General, the Hunan Provincial Government has formulated a Hunan Transportation Development Plan. Like Guangdong, it is divided into provincial and national highways. Among them are plans for the Sichuan-Hunan Highway and the Hunan-Guizhou Highway."

Li Mo'an, Chief of Staff of the 8th Army, said, and then added: "General, is the Central Committee going to attack Chongqing and Chengdu?"

Chen Tianheng: "The central government hasn't set a timetable yet, but we will definitely take the Chengdu Plain in the future. The General Staff's current job is to plan and prepare for the campaign and strategy in advance so that the army can move immediately when the central government makes a decision."

Li Mo'an: "Since ancient times, there have been two relatively easy routes into Sichuan: one is from Shaanxi via Hanzhong, and the other is by water, going up the Yangtze River. Apart from these two routes, there are very few other routes suitable for large military groups. The Sichuan Basin is geographically very closed."

Chen Tianheng: "If we go by water, we need to control Wuhan first; if we go by Shaanxi, we have to take Hubei, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi first. But if we want to capture Sichuan before taking these places, we must consider how to enter the Sichuan Basin from Hunan. What is the plan of the Hunan Transportation Department for the Sichuan-Hunan Highway?"

Li Mo'an: "A section of the Sichuan-Hunan Highway overlaps with the Hunan-Guizhou Highway, or rather, the Sichuan-Hunan Highway borrows a section of the Hunan-Guizhou Highway. Hunan already has a road from Changsha to Yiyang and then to Changde. We'll extend the highway westward from Changde into Guizhou... What happens after that is no longer our responsibility."

Su Yu: "General, if that's the case, we'll probably have to take Guizhou first before we take Sichuan.

Chen Tianheng: "Then the General Staff needs to inspect the planned section of the Sichuan-Xiang-Guizhou Highway in Hunan Province, which starts in Changde and goes through Taoyuan, Yuanling, Chenxi, Zhijiang, Huangxian, and ends in Guizhou."

There is still no formal highway in the southwest region that can be used by cars. Even between central cities, there are only ancient roads for caravans and horsemen to pass through. The road width is random, the foundation has poor bearing capacity, and the roads are often blocked by minor natural disasters.

In the original historical dimension, after the September 918th and December 128th Incidents, the Nationalist government rushed to overhaul the road system in the southwest. The Sichuan-Hunan Highway and the Hunan-Guizhou Highway were not completed until 1937. The "East Wind" campaign, launched to suppress the Red Army, allowed the Central Army to infiltrate the southwest.

Now the coalition government wants to incorporate the southwest into the transportation system, but it has encountered a similar problem as Chiang Kai-shek: not only is the local power in Sichuan an independent kingdom, but Guizhou is also.

So it’s not that easy. You need to save enough resources, gather enough divisions, select a main general with high ability value, and point the mouse towards Sichuan... Don’t think too much.

"The rural movement encountered some obstacles in the implementation of ethnic minority areas such as Xiangxi and Enshi?"

The task of inspecting the Sichuan-Hunan Highway was handed over to Zhou Shidi and Su Yu of the Operations Department, and Chen Tianheng continued to stay in Changde.

He Long: "The rural structure of the Miao, Yi, and Tujia peoples there is very different from that of the Han Chinese areas, so we can't push them in. But I think the comrades working with the peasants have problems with their working methods."

Chen Tianheng: "It seems we need to replace some comrades to work. However, this is only a problem of the isolation of Xiangxi and Enshi, Hubei. These two areas are too dangerous. Even if we expand them into our base, we can't build a road through them. Lao He, I now have a new idea about entering Sichuan. How about taking the Dongting Lake waterway?"

He Long: "Dongting Lake is not far from Changde and can be reached by inland motorboats, but to leave Dongting Lake you have to go through Yueyang."

Chen Tianheng: "It's just Yueyang, not Wuhan. Ships from Dongting Lake enter the Yangtze River through the mouth of Yueyang, turn upstream, pass through the Three Gorges, and then reach Chongqing."

He Long became excited: "You're not going to say we want to capture Yueyang, are you?"

The central government has no plans to capture Yueyang for the time being.