The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

You're injured, sick, or seriously infected, and you take out penicillin and say it works after one shot and you'll feel better after three. Oh my God, that's amazing.

What? A box of penicillin and two gold bars?

Great, I choose death.

How many families can afford two gold bars these days? Even if you dumped 10 tons of penicillin in Yan'an, with the potential users in northern Shaanxi, you wouldn't make 50 yuan a year. At least you have to sell it in Chongqing to get more people to buy the drug. But given China's current poverty, the amount of money the pharmaceutical market can generate is extremely limited. People's purchasing power is extremely low, and no one has money.

Of course, sufficient penicillin can significantly reduce the mortality rate of wounded and sick soldiers in the army, and the cost is not a big deal if it is used by our own people.

If you really want to maximize the commercial benefits of penicillin and turn it into a money-printing machine, you can't just resell it to Chongqing; you have to export it to the European and American markets. Foreigners have money, and all the money you earn is money.

A base area must be established, and that base area must have a city, preferably near the sea. Chen Tianheng's plan was designed for medical purposes.

Chapter 78

Borodin is leaving.

As the representative of the Communist International in China, the Soviet Union's plenipotentiary representative in Guangzhou, and the Kuomintang's chief political adviser, Borodin successfully explored methods and optimal strategies to grasp the Kuomintang's political tendencies and effectively controlled the Kuomintang through Wang Jingwei.

Not only did he control the Kuomintang, but his greater success was that at the same time he was able to win the support of most of the Kuomintang and the National Government's senior officials.

However, despite his success, Ji Shanjia, who now replaced General Galen as the Kuomintang's chief military adviser, did not like Borodin.

When there is a conflict between the political chief adviser and the military chief adviser, who should be listened to?

The answer to this question depends on the order in which they came to China. The person who came to China last had priority because he brought the latest instructions from Moscow.

"Tianheng, why are you in the city again?"

At the Kuomintang headquarters, Chen Tianheng turned a corner and went to the Propaganda Department to find Mao Runzhi.

"Officers are allowed to go out once a week. I didn't use it before, but now that I have a girlfriend at Guangdong University, I have an excuse to go every time," Chen Tianheng said. "But today's trip is on official business. I'm here at the Naval Bureau to see Li Zhilong. Secretary Mao, and Tang Tongde, a member of the War Research Association, was vying for the position of commander of the 8th Regiment of the 3rd Division, but he didn't get selected."

Mao Runzhi: "It seems that the commanders of the First Army's regiments will still have to be Whampoa officers or veterans who joined the army during the time of Sun Yat-sen. You are the only Whampoa graduate to be a regiment commander."

Chen Tianheng: "That's true. The KMT still needs to take care of those 'veterans' who joined the revolution earlier. However, the National Revolutionary Army is constantly expanding, and perhaps the situation will be different in a few months."

The expansion of the Nationalist Army was not just about expanding the army, but also about reorganizing the various former founding armies. These local factions were reorganized, and officers with poor quality or a bad reputation would be eliminated and replaced with candidates recognized by the Kuomintang.

If my estimate is correct, in the next few months, at least one more regimental commander will be added to the Whampoa Military Academy class, such as Tang Tongde, commander of the 8th Regiment of the 3rd Division, or Sun Yuanliang, or Hu Zongnan. By the time the Northern Expedition begins, the army will rapidly expand as it fights, and there will be even more regimental commanders.

Sun Yuanliang unexpectedly passed the test and assessment and became a full member of the War Research Association (but not a "core member"), thanks to Mao Runzhi's proposal to expand the membership of the War Research Association the previous year. Hu Zongnan is still not considered a full member of the War Research Association.

Mao Runzhi: "I have already talked to Ye Jianying about this. I told him to aim for the position of division commander or chief of staff."

Chen Tianheng: "Yes, with his level and qualifications, he should indeed aim for these positions."

……

Li Zhilong was no longer in the National Government’s Navy Bureau. He was on the Zhongshan Ship.

Sun Yat-sen enjoyed the support of the navy from the time he ascended to the rank of Grand Marshal of the Army and Navy in 1917. At the outset of the Protection of Law Movement, he commanded 12 warships, including the three cruisers Haiqi, Haichen, and Zhaohe. However, these three cruisers had been returned to the north, drawing military pay from the Beiyang government. Seven warships remained under the command of the Nationalist government in Guangzhou, of which the Zhongshan (Yongfeng) was the largest.

Li Zhilong is currently the Acting Director of the Naval Bureau and Captain of the Zhongshan Ship. Speaking of which, among the first batch of Whampoa Military Academy students/members of the War Research Society, Li Zhilong currently holds the highest rank, Lieutenant General.

"As a Lieutenant General, I only have a few ships. They're all coastal and river defense gunboats. During the southern expedition to Hainan Island, only two of the seven warships were able to sail, and neither could reach 12 knots. Fortunately, Chen Jiongming and Deng Benyin had no navy at all, so they slowly rushed over, slowly opened fire, and surprisingly won the battle, sending the landing troops ashore."

Li Zhilong said that life in the navy is difficult.

Chen Tianheng: "Wait a minute, this is my first time on the Zhongshan warship, let me take a look around first."

The two ships of the same class, the Yongxiang and the Yongfeng (Zhongshan), were built by Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard in Japan. They had a standard displacement of 780 tons, a 4-inch gun on the foredeck, a 3-inch gun on the aft deck, and four 47mm Hotchkiss guns on either side. That was pretty much it.

The main engine is a triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine with a designed speed of 14 knots. According to what Li Zhilong just said, the actual speed is less than 12 knots.

The ship's appearance is difficult to describe. Rust marks the sides and decks. Instead of removing the rust, the sailors simply painted over it. Up close, you can see uneven areas. Pressing on the paint creates a dent. If this had happened on PLAN, I wonder how many penalties the entire ship would have received.

Tip: The Zhongshan Ship at this time was not an old ship. It was delivered in 1913 and was only more than 12 years old.

"From the naval captain down, officers and even sailors are still dominated by the Fujian clique," Li Zhilong said. "The Navy Bureau can't intervene. Given the current level of activity by the Navy Bureau, it's probably not going to be possible anytime soon for them to directly manage naval warships. I can only say that getting these warships to obey orders and go wherever they're told is already a real challenge."

"Obeying orders is the bottom line," Chen Tianheng said. "If you don't obey orders, you're in big trouble. Zhilong, the problem you may be facing now is related to the transfer order. Over at Huangpu, the Young Military Association has received some unusual signals from the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee."

Li Zhilong: "What kind of abnormal signal?"

"The conflict between President Chiang Kai-shek and Ji Shangjia has not only failed to resolve, but has escalated," said Chen Tianheng. "Before the second Eastern Expedition last year, the Nationalist government reorganized the army into six armies, numbered 1 through 6. Even after the Eastern Expedition ended, the National Revolutionary Army still has six armies. Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi unified Guangxi at the end of last year, and logically, the designation of the 7th Army should have been given to Li Zongren, but Ji Shangjia hasn't yet."

"In Guangzhou, Ji Shangjia went to Huangpu three times and finally transferred the Second Division out and stationed it in Guangzhou. Now, according to our people in Liu Zhi's regiment, the Soviet military advisory group and Wang Jingwei's people are in close contact with the commander of the Second Division, Wang Maogong. The content of these secret talks is unknown."

"But Chiang Kai-shek was clearly aware that Ji Shangjia was in frequent contact with Wang Maogong. Judging from these public indications, Ji Shangjia may have intended to establish the 7th Army with the 2nd Division of the 1st Army as its core."

"This might touch Chiang Kai-shek's most sensitive spot. Chiang Kai-shek considered the First Army his own territory, and the Second Division's core members were Whampoa Military Academy's third batch of students. If anyone tried to abduct the Second Division, it would be tantamount to declaring war."

Li Zhilong thought for a moment: "Does this mean that the two sides might come to blows?"

Chen Tianheng: "The instructions the Young Military Officers' Union received from their superiors, which were likely instructions from the Comintern received by the Guangdong District Committee, were to carry out some propaganda work. The content was somewhat confusing. Also, there were rumors circulating about the Sun Yat-sen Society, of which I was also a member, that Chiang Kai-shek was planning to complain to Moscow and send Kisanka back to Japan."

Li Zhilong: "The Navy has its own system, but it is directly under the leadership of the Navy Bureau. If Chiang Kai-shek directly issues an order, he can disobey it. So, will our party organization bypass the process and issue an order to me?"

Chen Tianheng: "Neither the Party Central Committee nor the Guangdong District Committee currently has such a plan. What you should pay attention to may be some seemingly normal military orders that only have one or two insignificant loopholes."

Li Zhilong: "According to that, it seems to me that it's time for the navy ships to be on high alert."

Chen Tianheng: "Besides that, we must also note that if it's an unplanned order, we should only make up our minds to carry out actions that appear practical and have a high success rate. Otherwise, we must adopt alternative measures."

……

Guangzhou Generalissimo's Headquarters, headquarters of the Soviet Advisory Group.

"At present, what the Guangzhou government should do is to stabilize the situation and consolidate the revolutionary base in Guangdong."

"A solid base is immune to attack."

Ji Shanjia said this to Tan Yankai who came for the talks with a stern face.

If there was any other Kuomintang official besides Chiang Kai-shek who was looking forward to the Northern Expedition, it would be Tan Yankai.

The various local KMT factions gathered in Guangzhou—the Guangxi and Yunnan cliques—had their own provinces, but the Hunan clique did not. Hunan was occupied by the Beiyang warlords. Once the Northern Expedition began, Hunan would undoubtedly be among the first provinces the Northern Expedition would attack.

However, now Ji Shangjia asked the Nationalist government to consolidate Guangdong and then launch the Northern Expedition later. Tan Yankai had no choice but to leave in anger.

Ji Shanjia opened a letter mailed from the Soviet Union, which was written by his old superior and old comrade.

"Dear Comrade Kuibyshev (Kissanka):"

"I admit that the most serious issue, the one that makes me most uneasy right now, is the situation in China."

"Joseph said, and recently Kalinin and Rudzhok repeated it in official settings, that the Nationalist Government is 'the government of the people of all classes in China.' It turns out that China can have a supra-class government. Marxism, Lenin's legacy, and Lenin's outlines on democracy have all been completely forgotten by them."

"Joseph's original plan was this: First, complete the Northern Expedition, in other words, unify China, and then begin the separation of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. This concept was transparent Menshevism. First, complete the bourgeois revolution, then... and so on. So, how much of a positive role did this transparent Menshevism, whose outcome was readily apparent to others, have in the course of history?"

“My opinion is:”

"1. The Chinese Communist Party must not join the Kuomintang. This is my consistent opinion. If the Communist Party continues to remain within the Kuomintang, it will have fatal consequences for the Chinese revolution and the proletariat, and first of all, it will completely corrupt the Chinese Communist Party itself."

2. China needs a completely independent and genuinely Bolshevik party to lead the proletariat, to continuously win over the masses in the trade unions, and to lead the proletariat in its struggle to win over the peasant masses.

"3. An authoritative political mission must be sent to China as soon as possible. The mission's political mission includes:

"3.1. Clarify the situation in China and report to the Politburo;"

3.2. To openly criticize, as far as possible, in the press and in Party communications throughout China, the Kuomintang government's actions that are against the interests of the workers and peasants and the interests of the national revolution.

3.3. Together with Comrade Gallagher, take all necessary measures, including cleanup, to rectify the work of military personnel assigned to China.

"...Lev Davidovich Trotsky."

Chapter 79

"One, two, one, two, one, ready, sing!"

"The sun sets in the west and the clouds are red"

"Soldiers, return to camp after target practice, return to camp"

……

In the evening, officers and soldiers of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division completed their training.

The Second Battalion gathered and lined up at the shooting range. Chen Geng took the lead, and then hundreds of people walked back while singing.

Du Yuming's Third Battalion wasn't at the firing range, but rather at the daily training ground. Today's training was "Local Rats." When everyone assembled and filed back to camp for lunch, the only slope on the training ground was covered in a crisscross of trenches and foxholes.

Xu Xiangqian's battalion went out of the camp to conduct field marches and tactical training. Chen Tianheng also followed the battalion and supervised them in the tactical training.

"Is this Chen Tianheng really that good at playing?"

Bai Chongxi seemed to be a mysterious figure at the Whampoa Military Academy. Although his name had been listed as an instructor since the school's founding in 1924, he had rarely been seen on Cheung Chau Island in the past two years.

Even if he shows up, he will leave on the same day. The instructors and the classes have nothing to do with him.

"Jiansheng, Chen Tianheng is a renowned martial arts fanatic within the First Army, and indeed the entire Revolutionary Army. He's completely focused on training his regiment and his soldiers," He Yingqin said. "From top to bottom, officers and soldiers, the First Regiment is composed of the best of the best. Yet, Chen Tianheng still feels this isn't enough and says he wants to continue researching training methods to improve combat effectiveness."

Bai Chongxi: "Just train the troops. Look, he even composed his own military songs for training. I heard he even designed the armband and emblem of the First Regiment himself. Isn't that just fun?"

He Yingqin: "Ah, that's true. But young man, this is normal. And you know, even the principal is being played with."

Chiang Kai-shek was being played around, and to some extent, this was not wrong. He ordered the First Army to form a military band and actually equipped the War Research Institute with a piano. Now the War Research Institute was a true Prussian War Academy.

Of course, in this era, the songs (Western-style marches) that Chinese military bands could play were not very good. Apart from the Huangpu school song and "Two Tigers", there were also the First Regiment's song, the Target Practice Song, and so on.

The First Regiment tinkered with its own regimental song, and the 23456th Regiment also wanted to try to compose a regimental song. However, they found that composing a song was much more difficult than learning the infantry training method of Chen Tianheng's First Regiment, so they had to give up.

"Jingzhi, this War Research Society is simply a legitimate society."

Bai Chongxi and He Yingqin arrived at the War Research Society's activity center. The center had been transformed from a small classroom into a standard large classroom, with a sand table, a war game table, and a piano in the center. There were a large number of books along the walls, and something particularly eye-catching was hanging on the wall:

They were all spoils of war from the First Army's previous battles, including the shoulder straps of Chen Jiongming's highest commander who was captured in the Danshui battle, the military cap of Brigade Commander Zhang Huaru who was captured alive in the Mianhu battle, the seal of Lin Hu who was found after his command post was destroyed, and so on.

There is also a large inscription:

"Strengthening the Army and Improving Military Skills"

Chiang Kai-shek

Seeing Chiang Kai-shek's inscription, Bai Chongxi chuckled twice and stopped looking at the wall. "Is this war game about the terrain of eastern Guangdong? Wasn't eastern Guangdong completely pacified during the two eastern expeditions?"

"Report to the commander, this is a hypothetical war game simulation conducted by the War Research Institute based on the existing terrain in eastern Guangdong." Today, only the combat staff officer Zheng Dongguo was in the War Research Institute classroom, and he answered Bai Chongxi.

"Oh."

Bai Chongxi examined the chessboard carefully. The map (or chessboard) was of eastern Guangdong, but the warring armies depicted were not from the First or Second Eastern Expeditions. Instead, the two opposing fronts were densely packed with squares marked with unit numbers, each representing a division or brigade.

"The density of troops has already reached the level of the Western Front in the European War."

Zheng Dongguo: "Yes, we are assuming that on the battlefield in eastern Guangdong, there was an offensive and defensive battle between two fully industrialized armies at the level of a front."

Bai Chongxi: "Then I'll give it a try too. Jingzhi, you come."

Zheng Dongguo: "Okay, then I will be the referee for the two officers."

……

After leading the troops back to the camp, eating and bathing, it was almost eight o'clock when Chen Tianheng and a few others came to the War Research Association. Bai Chongxi and He Yingqin were fighting on the chessboard.

Beads of sweat the size of beans dripped down He Yingqin's head, and Bai Chongxi's face turned red.

"Commander Bai, why didn't you notify the regiment of your visit?"

Bai Chongxi: "I just came here to take a look. ... Lao He, I, I, why can't I take you down?"

"Pah," He Yingqin slapped three stacked wooden pieces onto the chessboard. "Engage. Zheng Dongguo, calculate."

Zheng Dongguo: "The combat effectiveness of the division responsible for breaking through the fortified area has been reduced by 50%. The breakthrough point is closed, logistics are cut off, and the combat effectiveness is reduced by another 50%. The remaining combat effectiveness of the three divisions is 1.25. There are no fortifications. The combat effectiveness of the three divisions is 3.0. Commander, you have annihilated Commander Bai."

Chen Tianheng understood. The two were playing a war game, with Bai Chongxi as the attacker and He Yingqin as the defender. Just now, Bai Chongxi had broken through He Yingqin's permanent fortifications, three times in a row. But the invading troops were quickly overtaken and destroyed by He Yingqin's reserves. With his three divisions destroyed, Bai Chongxi had no mobile corps left, and He Yingqin's defense was a success.

How could Bai Chongxi, who always thought highly of himself, accept this result?

Chen Tianheng found a workbook from a corner of the bookshelf and said, "Commander-in-Chief, Commander Bai, we have been conducting simulations for attack and defense in eastern Guangdong for half a month. We have conducted dozens of simulations, and the results are all in here."

He Yingqin: "Really? Who was involved? What was the final result?"

Bai Chongxi opened the exercise book and saw that there were 37 simulations, 22 of which were the same as today's settings, 60 divisions against 40 divisions, the attacking side had a 1.5 times advantage in manpower and firepower, and the defending side had a deep permanent fortification belt.

In 22 simulations, the attackers never managed to cause the defenders to completely collapse. Even Chen Tianheng himself played the attacker once, but he still couldn't break the defenders.

Chen Tianheng: "Our simulations prove that a protracted trench war on the Western Front was inevitable. However, I believe that the general staffs of various countries have also conducted similar simulations. In short, large-scale, high-density ground offensive and defensive operations, under the military technology and military system of the early 20th century, made it extremely difficult for the attacker to achieve a breakthrough."

Bai Chongxi: "So this is what your War Research Society studies."

Chen Tianheng: "As long as there is a possibility of such a war in the future, soldiers should be prepared accordingly."

"I agree. However, this war game is just an air-to-air scenario. I've seen the standard divisions you set up. Each division has a 105mm howitzer regiment, and then you give each side a dozen independent 150mm heavy artillery regiments. The fifteen available field artillery pieces in China wouldn't even be enough to form a regiment."

Bai Chongxi pointed to the cleaned war game table. One of the small boxes next to it was filled with wood chips from the 150th Heavy Artillery Regiment.

……