The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Ji Shanjia: "Are these soldiers training to climb the city walls?"

He Yingqin: "Yes. In both of our Eastern Expeditions, we encountered defenses based on ancient city walls."

"As long as there are sufficient field artillery, medieval city walls have no positive value for defense," Kiyama said nonchalantly. "And China's existing city walls don't have bastions. I don't think it's necessary to conduct this kind of exercise."

He Yingqin: "Yes, that's true. However, our army's field artillery is still very small, with only four heavy artillery pieces per army. We have experienced actual combat in Huizhou, and even if we include the 75mm mountain guns, it would be difficult to bring down the city wall in a short period of time."

Ji Shanjia: "Soviet aid will continue to arrive, but you must reorganize the 1st to 6th Armies according to the latest requirements. ...Hmm, have the soldiers been disbanded?"

He Yingqin: "Yes, it's time for lunch."

Soldiers from three regiments lined up on the drill grounds, preparing for lunch. Ji Shanjia noticed that the troops from the regiment in front of him did not disband after assembling. Instead, they split into three teams and entered the cafeteria at the command of the training director.

Soldiers

"Follow the Party's command"

"Capable of winning battles and possessing excellent work ethic..."

"...Instructor He, is this the 1st Division's cafeteria?"

Chen Yannian asked.

"They're from the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division," He Yingqin said. "There are 7,000 people in the division. It would be too crowded if they all cooked and ate together."

The group approached the mess hall of the first regiment.

"Something seems wrong. What kind of songs are these soldiers singing? Why have I never heard of them before?"

He Yingqin: "Ahem... ahem. Secretary Chen, this is the anthem of the First Regiment of the First Division."

"What? An infantry regiment has its own regimental song?!"

Chen Yannian listened carefully. Not only was the melody of this song unfamiliar to him, but he had also never seen the lyrics before.

"If the country wants to be strong, we must take responsibility"

"The battle flag is filled with iron-blooded glory"

Soldiers

"Follow the Party's command"

"Capable of winning battles and having a good work style"

“Not afraid of strong enemies”

"Dare to compete"

"Decisive victory on the battlefield for the motherland"

"Hello, General Counsel Ji Shanjia. Hello, Secretary Chen. This song is called 'Strong Army Battle Song,' and I wrote it casually when I had some free time."

Chen Tianheng received the visiting advisory group.

Chapter 72

The first regiment not only has a regimental song, but also a regimental flag.

Because the national army flag had not yet been created and the template for the army military unit flag had not yet been created, Chen Tianheng drew his own.

The blue sky, white sun element is definitely present, and it's centered. The lower third of the image is truly red, but rather than a single, curved red strip, it resembles two continuous red ridges beneath the blue sky, white sun, or the silhouette of a red eagle with its wings spread. In the middle of the two red ridges is "①," representing the First Regiment.

"It's not very good-looking, I can only say it's okay."

He Yingqin's evaluation.

"Master, dark blue is an extremely cold color, and red is an extremely warm color. It's really difficult to combine these two colors. Unless we're designing a logo for an iced drink, it's always going to be a little awkward."

"So, these two red peaks of equal height represent the Kuomintang and the Communist Party? Was it the cooperation between the two parties that created the First Regiment?"

"No," Chen Tianheng remained calm, offering a prepared explanation. "This is a ridge made of red soil from Lingnan. It represents Dagong Mountain in Mianhu. It's where the First Regiment fought its first fierce battle after its establishment, a battle of life and death."

In addition to the group song and flag, the First Regiment also has its own badge, which is a cloth patch on its arm.

After the Second Eastern Expedition, Chen Tianheng suddenly became very high-profile. After a series of events, the entire First Regiment, from the soldiers to the commander, became extremely arrogant.

But the First Regiment does have the qualifications to brag, as its military achievements are there.

The injection of a large number of team-specific elements gives officers and soldiers a greater sense of belonging and collective honor, which can be seen in routine training exercises.

Ji Shanjia was very curious about the First Regiment's anthem and armband, but he didn't ask any more questions. Ji Shanjia's main purpose for coming to the Whampoa Military Academy today was not this, he was here to see Chiang Kai-shek.

"I need to place a division in Guangzhou," Ji Shangjia said to He Yingqin. "I hope you can convey this to Chiang Kai-shek after he returns to Huangpu. I need the Second Division to be deployed in Guangzhou to deal with any possible rebellion in Guangzhou."

……

"Snapped!"

Chiang Kai-shek threw the empty inkstone on the table to the ground.

He went out today to avoid Ji Shangjia. Ji Shangjia didn't find him in Huangpu and returned to Guangzhou in the afternoon. Chiang Kai-shek immediately returned to Huangpu.

"This Ji Shangjia has bad intentions!" Chiang Kai-shek said, "He wants to build an army for Wang Jingwei!"

"If we pull the Wodi Second Division to Guangzhou, he can use it as a base to recruit soldiers, expand the army, and issue guns. The Second Division will then become the 7th Army, controlled by Wang Jingwei, humph!"

"I'm going to the Generalissimo's Headquarters. I want to talk to Ji Shangjia and Borodin face to face. Chen Tianheng, you will select a company from the First Regiment and lead it yourself to escort me to Guangzhou."

Chiang Kai-shek summoned Chen Tianheng for this matter.

In fact, Chiang Kai-shek already had a guard unit led by Yu Jishi. This time, Chiang Kai-shek probably felt that he was going deep into the tiger's den and that the guard unit might not be enough, so he called on a company from the 1st Regiment.

Ji Shangjia had been in office for a month, and it was obvious that he was very indifferent to Chiang Kai-shek, so Chiang Kai-shek ignored him. What he didn't expect was that Ji Shangjia came today to take away the Second Division, and Chiang Kai-shek was furious.

"Hey, Yu Jishi, how do you feel about working next to the principal?"

Chiang Kai-shek and Ji Shangjia were holding talks in the Grand Marshal's Mansion. Outside downstairs, Chen Tianheng chatted with Yu Jishi.

"It's just the same routine every day, coming and going," Yu Jishi shrugged. "What else can the guards do? That's all."

Chen Tianheng nodded. After the Second Eastern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek's reputation soared that no one in the Kuomintang dared to touch him. On the Communist side, the international faction began to denounce Chiang Kai-shek as a new warlord and conspirator, demanding his overthrow, but these internationalists were just empty talk. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek's current guard was essentially sufficient. His arrival today with a throng of 170 or 80 men was pure paranoia.

Yu Jishi: "I heard that the president had an argument with Ji Shangjia a few days ago. Ji Shangjia wants to take charge of the National Revolutionary Army himself and transfer the command of the six armies to himself and his advisory group."

Chen Tianheng: "What was the outcome?"

"Of course the principal refused, and senior members of the Kuomintang also opposed it, so the matter was suppressed. However, Ji Shanjia still wanted military power."

Chen Tianheng: "If I'm not mistaken, even Advisor Borodin wouldn't approve of Kishanka's approach. The KMT Supreme Military Commission was established by Borodin and Galen to control and command the entire National Revolutionary Army. Now, it's unlikely that Kishanka can transfer command just because he wants to. Furthermore, Yu Jishi and Kishanka may have received different orders before coming to China than Borodin did."

Yu Jishi: "Are you saying that the Soviet Union has multiple branches of government?"

Chen Tianheng: "If you look at it from a broad perspective, it is."

This matter actually has its roots in the Soviet Union, which is basically "multiple sources of power" - the disagreement between Stalin and Trotsky.

Yu Jishi also told Chen Tianheng that Chiang Kai-shek and his staff had drawn up a Northern Expedition plan, intending to begin in mid-1926, capture Wuhan in 1927, and fight to the Yangtze River Basin. Not surprisingly, although this Northern Expedition plan was approved by the Kuomintang's Supreme Military Council, it was rejected by Ji Shangjia.

Ji Shanjia said that the Northern Expedition should not be mentioned for the time being.

Chiang Kai-shek and Ji Shanjia talked for over an hour before leaving. Chiang Kai-shek's face was neither smiling nor angry after the meeting, and it was unclear whether he had managed to save the 2nd Division of his 1st Army.

"We will not visit Advisor Borodin today," Chiang Kai-shek said. "I am very busy with my work."

Yu Jishi: "Yes. I will arrange the return ship immediately."

Chiang Kai-shek: "Chen Tianheng, your troops have been training hard for days since the Eastern Expedition. They have been very tired until now. The 1st Division can take a few days off."

……

Let's have a holiday. Let's give the soldiers and officers a few days off. Officers and soldiers in Guangzhou and nearby can go home and visit their families. The revolutionary army recently won a great victory in its Eastern Expedition. When citizens see soldiers in uniform on the street, they look at them from afar with awe on their faces. It feels really good.

However, Chen Tianheng, a core member of the War Research Society, still arranged some tasks for them.

"Now it's very convenient for me to talk to Director Dai. He is also the president of Guangdong University. So when I suggested that members of the War Research Association attend classes at Guangdong University as auditors, he immediately arranged dozens of auditor passes."

Chen Tianheng threw a bundle of documents on the table in the middle of the War Research Association.

"In military academies in industrialized countries, the officer development process actually includes higher education. When a cadet graduates, in addition to completing the necessary officer skills training at the academy, he will also receive a university degree."

"Usually it's an engineering degree, because after completing an engineering undergraduate degree, you'll have a basic understanding or even a sense of awe for modern science and industrial technology. This kind of scientific literacy is particularly important for commanding modern industrial warfare."

"However, our time may be very tight, but after all, being able to audit a few more classes means we can learn a few more lessons."

Jiang Xianyun found his own from the pile of witness testimony: "I'm planning to go to Guangzhou today. Is anyone else going with me?"

……

"Don't be afraid of powerful enemies, dare to compete, and win the battle for the motherland..."

"Hey, Captain, if the five of us enter Guangdong University in our military uniforms, will we be surrounded by people on campus?"

Xu Xiangqian was humming a song when he suddenly remembered something.

Chen Tianheng: "Yes. There will be many girls coming up to me asking for a date."

Xu Xiangqian: "Ah, that won't do. I've been married for six years, and my daughter back home is almost five years old."

Jiang Xianyun: "I'm married too."

Zheng Dongguo: "I'm married too."

Wang Erzhuo: "I got married after my first Eastern Expedition. Captain, you even attended my wedding."

The four of them looked at Chen Tianheng together: "Captain, you are the only one who is single."

……Hi.

Don’t think that just because some people call them the Whampoa Student Army, they are really a group of college students.

More than half of the first batch of students at Huangpu Military Academy had already married at home before entering the school, and many of them already had children.

Nowadays, bachelors like Chen Tianheng are a minority.

Chen Tianheng shook his head: "Why are you all getting married so early? ...Hey? Lao Guo?"

Chen Tianheng met Guo Moruo on the campus of Guangdong University.

"Ah, I was invited by the Nationalist Government in Guangzhou to be the Dean of the Arts Department at Guangdong University. I'll officially start next month. Ah, next month it will be Sun Yat-sen University. I'm surprised to see you two on the campus of Sun Yat-sen University."

Guo Moruo knew both Chen Tianheng and Jiang Xianyun, having met them in Shanghai. Chen Tianheng even approached Guo Moruo several times to discuss the founding of China National Geographic. Seeing Chen Tianheng and Jiang Xianyun in their revolutionary uniforms, Guo Moruo tacitly agreed to limit his conversation to those matters and avoid mentioning Chen Duxiu in Shanghai.

"Lao Guo, are you still the editor-in-chief of National Geographic China?"

Guo Moruo: "Yes. But the editorial department has a deputy editor-in-chief who is responsible for the daily publishing work. The editorial staff of this magazine is very large, so it doesn't matter whether I am there or not."

Chen Tianheng: "Looks like it's time to lay off some employees."

"There won't be any layoffs. Boss Chen Yun said he'll continue hiring, uh..."

Guo Moruo was stuck for a moment and was organizing his words when a woman hurried up from behind him, took his arm, and bowed to Chen Tianheng and the other four people in a very virtuous manner.

Chen Tianheng also nodded, then looked at Guo Moruo.

"Hello, Miss Xing'er." Jiang Xianyun spoke faster than his eyes. He nodded and greeted her without waiting for Guo Moruo to introduce her.

"Myolie?"

The woman looked at Guo Moruo, her eyes becoming increasingly stern.

"Snapped!"

……

"Jiang Xianyun, Jiang Xianyun, you're not really face-blind, are you?"

Jiang Xianyu touched his nose and said, "Not exactly. I just can't tell women's faces apart, but I can recognize men's faces very quickly. Besides, the lady just now was dressed exactly like Xing'er."

Chen Tianheng sighed.

The two women who accompanied Lao Guo in Shanghai and Guangzhou were never mentioned in the biographies Chen Tianheng had read. They were not Zhang Qionghua, Sato Tomiko, or Yu Liqun. One of them was named Feng Xing'er, the other Zheng Ping.

"You see, everyone, this is why I am, uh, extremely cautious about getting married."

Chapter 73

"National Geographic of China", edited by Guo Moruo, is now very famous.

But outsiders may not know that the "National Geographic Company" behind "China National Geographic" was actually in a huge loss situation. In 1924 and 1925, it lost 35 yuan (the yuan was silver dollars). The losses in 1926 were only going to increase.

The losses were due to the magazine's concurrent production of large-scale maps of China. Therefore, Chen Yun separated the magazine's business from its map division, accounting for each independently. While National Geographic's overall financial statements showed a loss of 35 silver dollars, if only the magazine division was considered, China National Geographic was profitable.

The losses were offset by capital injections from Mao Runmin's trading company. Chen Tianheng had set a deadline when he founded the magazine: a large-scale map of South China should be produced by 1926. Later, Mao Runzhi and Mao Runmin discussed the deadline, shortening it to July 1926. Therefore, starting in January 1926, the company's map department began burning through funds at an accelerated rate, with an estimated 150,000 silver dollars burned through in the first half of the year.

So when Chen Tianheng said "it's time to lay off employees", he was joking with Guo Moruo. In 1926, the magazine company, no, National Geographic Company would not lay off employees, but would further expand its recruitment.

As 1926 was approaching, new-school intellectuals like Guo Moruo were not the only ones who came to Guangzhou from all over the country.