The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

……

"Without bloodshed, the British garrison was forced to withdraw from Jiujiang, and I took over the defense. Very good, very good."

Chiang Kai-shek was very pleased with the overnight change of flag in the British Concession in Jiujiang. Not only was the issue of the British Concession resolved quickly and efficiently, but it had also happened only nine days after the Northern Expedition entered Jiujiang.

"My biggest concern is that armed conflict could ensue from the British Concession in Jiujiang, leading to a deterioration in relations between Britain and China. I recently heard that Sun Chuanfang has returned to Jiangsu and is recruiting troops again, intending to restore his strength. He has already received a large amount of tax revenue from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If Britain provides financial support to Sun Chuanfang, his army's recovery will be even faster. Fortunately, so far, the British have only submitted a solemn protest to our Nationalist Government through the Guangzhou Consul, and no further action has been taken."

Chen Tianheng: "Britain was not prepared to be drawn into a large-scale civil war in the Far East, and we had legally justifiable evidence to abolish the British Concession. We were confident of forcing them to surrender the defense of the British Concession. Unfortunately, at the last moment before our troops entered the British Concession, Deng Ruzhuo and other leaders of Sun's army escaped in a small boat, and we were unable to capture them."

Chiang Kai-shek: "Deng Ruzhuo was the commander-in-chief of Sun Chuanfang's Jiangxi Army. He may have fled, but our Northern Expedition has basically controlled all of Jiangxi. Deng Ruzhuo will not organize another Jiangxi Army. Tianheng, the Northern Expedition's next strategy is to attack Henan from Hubei or to attack Nanjing or Shanghai. Which direction do you think the Northern Expedition should attack first?"

Chen Tianheng: "In my opinion, we can pursue two strategic directions simultaneously. One is to start from Wuhan and attack Henan, and then develop towards Zhili and Shanxi; the other is to advance in multiple directions, control Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and then capture Nanjing and Shanghai."

Chiang Kai-shek: “Hmm…”

Chen Tianheng: "However, of the two strategic directions, the Jiangsu-Zhejiang direction should be the primary attack direction, with the largest investment of troops and supplies. Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang have both suffered heavy losses from the Northern Expedition, but Sun Chuanfang's remaining troops far outnumber Wu Peifu's."

Chiang Kai-shek: "That's true. But the problem now is that Guangzhou's financial resources are exhausted. Song Ziwen said that he needs two months to raise funds to finance the next phase of military operations. Even then, only 7 million yuan can be raised, while the military expenditure for the invasion of Henan is 4 million yuan, and the conquest of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is 8 million yuan."

Chen Tianheng: "If we can only support one strategic direction, then I'm afraid we can only decide to attack Jiangsu and Zhejiang first."

Chiang Kai-shek said, "Seven million yuan won't be enough just to capture Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Tianheng, I've invited several business tycoons who support the Northern Expedition. They'll be heading to Nanchang. I intend to persuade them to donate some money to support the Northern Expedition. In a few days, you will come to Nanchang and work with me to convince those businessmen."

Chapter 123

Zhang Jingjiang, Chen Guangfu and Dai Jitao disembarked from the Yangtze River passenger ship and walked onto the Jiujiang wharf.

Zhang Jingjiang and Dai Jitao were both old acquaintances. Chen Guangfu was currently the Vice President of the Shanghai Banking Association, General Manager of the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank and the Bank of Jiangsu, and the founder and General Manager of the China Travel Service.

In recent days, merchants and bankers from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and southeastern provinces have been gathering in Nanchang. Zhang Jingjiang, Chen Guangfu and his party came from Wuhan.

"It's the focal point of the world, the mouth of three rivers, and the thoroughfare of seven provinces," Chen Guangfu said, gazing at Jiujiang from the dock. "I wonder if Jiujiang City is the same as Wuhan now."

The group first went from Shanghai to Wuhan, and then went downstream and landed in Jiujiang.

Now there are rumors in Wuhan or the entire area controlled by the Northern Expedition Army that the National Government is going to move from Guangzhou to Wuhan. This unconfirmed rumor makes the people of Guangzhou ecstatic and the people of Wuhan divided.

Guangzhou residents were ecstatic because the Nationalist government had been plundering the city relentlessly. In the first half of 1926, T.V. Soong raised 660 million silver dollars from Guangzhou to finance the Northern Expedition. Starting in 1926, Guangzhou's industrial and commercial tax rate was increased by 50%. Furthermore, the government issued 500 million yuan in prize-winning bonds.

Song Ziwen also used financial means to magnify this more than 10 million silver dollars. By issuing the Central Bank's general ocean notes (a gap between paper money and military notes), he used 4 million silver dollars as reserves and issued a total of 10 million ocean notes to meet the needs of the Northern Expedition.

However, despite employing various methods and financial instruments to amass wealth, by November 1926, the Nationalist government was once again penniless. The previous month, T.V. Soong had issued the second tranche of 10 million yuan in prize-winning bonds, but sales were sluggish, with only one-third sold to date. As for taxation, Guangzhou's tax system had become "extremely harsh, to the point where everything was taxed and nothing was exempt from taxation. In reality, there was nothing left to tax or donate."

So, when the Nationalist government relocated its capital to Wuhan, the people of Guangzhou were undoubtedly ecstatic, but the situation in Wuhan was less clear. Wuhan's current state can only be described as industrial and commercially desolate. Upon arriving in Wuhan, Chen Guangfu was busy sorting out the Shanghai Bank's messy accounts in Wuhan, and after that, he closed down the Wuhan branch. If the capital had been moved to Wuhan, would Wuhan's industry and commerce have gotten worse, or worse?

Compared with Wuhan, Jiujiang is much calmer now. It is a small city that still lives a stable life when the whole country is in turmoil.

"Although I'm just a local landlord in Jiujiang, I'm keeping an eye on the world's situation. Jiujiang's success is truly a stroke of luck."

Jiujiang's local landlords, the Liu, Li, Cai, and Wan families, welcomed the two prominent merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Xun. Zhang Jingjiang discussed with Wan Zhongzhen, who hosted a banquet for them, the fact that Jiujiang had escaped war despite a change of ownership. Wan Zhongzhen explained that this was pure luck. Sun Chuanfang's main force had been defeated by the Northern Expedition along the Nanchang and Nanxun routes. By the time the Northern Expedition reached Jiujiang, the defenders were reduced to a handful of mediocre fighters. Knowing they could not hold the city, and with the pressure from the Liu, Li, Cai, and Wan families, the defenders surrendered.

Dai Jitao: "Brother Wan, Jiujiang was not the only place where the Northern Expedition Army escaped disaster by peacefully entering the city. You also escaped disaster when the British Concession in Jiujiang was recaptured a few days ago."

Wan Zhongzhen: "Oh, I know that too. The Northern Expedition surrounded the British Concession in Jiujiang and ordered its garrison to withdraw, allowing the Northern Expedition to move in. The British actually withdrew, and there was no fighting."

Dai Jitao: "Brother Wan, you may not know this. The repossession of the British Concession in Jiujiang was ordered by the Kuomintang Central Committee. The secret order received by the Jiujiang Party Headquarters was to launch a series of large-scale anti-British demonstrations by workers, peasants and merchants in November and December, and to guide the demonstrators to attack the British Concession. After the demonstrators engaged in bloody clashes with the concession defenders, national public opinion would condemn the British and force them to withdraw from the concession. If this process is followed, the risks are extremely high. If the situation gets out of control, it is not impossible for the British to dispatch warships to bombard Jiujiang."

"I see. No wonder the Northern Expedition Army was fully prepared for the British warships to bombard Jiujiang. On the day they recaptured the concession, they persuaded the entire city to hide beneath the Jiujiang city walls, saying that the British warships couldn't reach them."

Wan Zhongzhen suddenly understood.

Dai Jitao: "Chen Tianheng had been planning this as soon as he entered Jiujiang City. It seemed he had some leverage over the British Concession. He immediately surrounded the city and demanded the British withdraw within a certain timeframe. This allowed the matter to be quickly resolved."

Chen Guangfu: "If Chiang Kai-shek doesn't do this, he won't be able to justify it on the basis of righteousness; if he does it but his methods are clumsy and bloodshed occurs, Wang Jingwei will reprimand Chiang Kai-shek and may even dismiss Chen Tianheng, the commander of the 1st Division stationed in Jiujiang. If the concession issue is resolved without bloodshed, the impasse will be broken and Chiang Kai-shek will win."

Zhang Jingjiang: "On the surface, this was about taking back the British concession and national justice, but behind the scenes it was a struggle between Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek, with each setting traps for the other."

Chen Guangfu: "Brother Renjie, you have known Chiang Kai-shek for many years, so I would like to ask, after the Battle of Nanxun, the Northern Expedition was divided into three routes. Chiang Kai-shek personally commanded the Central Route Army, and the Western Route Army was in Wuhan. How did Chiang Kai-shek's Central Route Army compare to the Western Route Army?"

Zhang Jingjiang: "I'm not very familiar with military affairs."

Dai Jitao: "Of the four armies under Chiang Kai-shek's command, the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th Armies were actually from various local factions. The 1st Army was his direct line. The Western Route Army had two strong armies, the 4th and 7th Armies. Tang Shengzhi's 8th Army was also quite powerful after being strengthened. In addition, the Western Route Army expanded the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Armies in Wuhan. After Chiang Kai-shek captured Nanchang and Jiangxi, he also wanted to expand his army, but he was short of money. The central bank's finances were tight, and Wang Jingwei deliberately suppressed the share of military spending in Nanchang."

Chen Guangfu: "Maintaining an army is really a waste of money."

……

The three did not plan to go to Nanchang immediately, and continued to stay and investigate in Jiujiang.

The British Concession in Jiujiang has now been renamed the Economic and Trade Park. The name change firstly indicates that it is no longer a concession, and secondly, the Economic and Trade Park is considered an independent district in Jiujiang and can have (retain) its own economic laws and regulations, allowing businesses and merchants in the British Concession to maintain an operating environment similar to before.

The British Concession had its own Yangtze River wharf, as did Jiujiang City. At the wharf, the three of them saw many dock workers gathered together, with long tables set out in the middle of the crowd, forming a rather large meeting place.

Chen Guangfu: "What is this?"

Wan Zhongzhen: "This is a labor negotiation between the dock workers' union and the dock owners."

In the outer circle of the negotiation site, several Northern Expedition Army soldiers were patrolling and ensuring order in the venue.

The First Division was stationed in Jiujiang, so its soldiers could be seen both inside and outside the city. Inside the city, Zhang Jingjiang even saw a dozen soldiers from the First Division working with nearby citizens to dismantle a Beiyang Army barricade blocking a road. Some soldiers, tired, took a break by the roadside, smoking cigarettes, their sleeves pulled high, each wearing a distinctive armband on their upper arms, and sheathed Gurkha knives at their waists.

Chen Guangfu: "These soldiers must be elite."

Wan Zhongzhen: "These appear to be combat engineers from the First Regiment of the First Division. They are truly elite. When the defense of the British Concession was handed over, half of the troops who took over were combat engineers. It's said that the British present were devastated when they saw these combat engineers."

Zhang Jingjiang: "We're already in Jiujiang. How about we contact the Nanchang headquarters and ask for permission to visit the First Division and Chen Tianheng?"

……

Chen Tianheng was not in Jiujiang at the time. He and the entire Third Battalion of the First Regiment and the Third Regiment had gone to the First Division Training Center at the foot of Mount Lu in the south of the city.

"The sun sets in the west, the clouds are red. Ready, sing!"

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

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

"The red flower on the chest reflects the colorful clouds"

"Happy songs filled the air"

……

"Supervisor Zhang, Commissioner Dai, and Mr. Wan."

After a day of training, Chen Tianheng saw these people who came to observe in front of the barracks of the training center.

Zhang Jingjiang: "This is Mr. Chen Guangfu, a Shanghai banking tycoon."

Chen Tianheng: "I've heard a lot about you. I've been busy with training recently and often not at the division headquarters. I couldn't come to meet you. Please forgive me."

Chen Guangfu: "I didn't have the opportunity to observe the Northern Expedition Army in Shanghai or Wuhan. I am very lucky to be able to visit the military camp in Jiujiang today."

"There are no luxuries in the military camp. This is a training center, and the conditions are particularly simple. This reception room is the best room. It will be dinner time soon, but in the training center, we can only entertain you with the big pot meals in the cafeteria." Chen Tianheng said with a smile.

Zhang Jingjiang: "Chen Tianheng, Chen Ying is your cousin."

Zhang Jingjiang not only knew the name of Chen Ying, the "new money" in Guangdong and Hong Kong, but he also found out that Chen Ying and Chen Tianheng were cousins.

Chen Guangfu said, "If it doesn't disturb your army too much, I would like to have a meal from the Northern Expedition Army's big pot."

……

Chen Tianheng took the four of them to... the cafeteria. A separate table in the officers' area.

A large bowl of rice, enough for a table of people, was served from the army's 100-jin pot.

A pot of stir-fried cabbage and a pot of stir-fried green peppers, leeks and dried tofu are also the big pot dishes served in the cafeteria today.

Chen Tianheng: "The troops eat meat every five days, on the fifth and tenth days of the month. Today is not a meat-eating day. However, the logistics department will purchase some inexpensive ingredients for additional meals, provided funding permits, because the soldiers exert considerable physical effort at the training center. Today's additional meal is crab, a specialty of Poyang Lake, Hukou crab."

After a while, the cook brought in a basin of crabs. The soldiers were given two crabs each as a snack, so everyone at the table could eat as they pleased.

Zhang Jingjiang: "The soldiers ran around all day and only ate meat once every five days. Even so, hundreds of thousands of Northern Expedition troops devoured Guangdong."

Chen Tianheng: "Supervisor Zhang, if the First Division only has the military pay and expenses issued by the Northern Expedition Headquarters, it will take 10 days for them to eat meat once."

Zhang Jingjiang: "...Okay, I understand."

Chen Guangfu: "The Guangzhou Revolutionary Government's Northern Expedition to unify the country was in line with the historical trend and the general trend of the times. However, the Guangzhou government was deeply tied to the Northern Expedition Army and the Soviet Union, which was a cause for great concern. In the southeastern provinces, Sun Chuanfang spoke of resisting the Northern Expedition Army, and his most common slogan was 'Stop the Guangzhou Revolutionary Party from Communism'. The country was divided among various warlords, and Sun Chuanfang was not a good person. We suffered greatly from his occupation of the southeast. However, his slogans specifically focused on anti-Russia and anti-communism, which actually won him some support."

"Brother Jingjiang, I, and my colleagues, would like to see the reunification of our country, and we are willing to do our utmost to support the Northern Expedition financially and physically. However, if the Northern Expedition succeeds and our country becomes a puppet of the Soviet Union, then it will be hard to say whether supporting the Northern Expedition is following the historical trend or making us a historical sinner."

Zhang Jingjiang: "Many people in the party also disagreed with this, but they couldn't stand Wang Jingwei's constant kowtow to the Soviet Union."

Dai Jitao had a good appetite today. He not only chopped up crabs but also devoured the huge pot of food in the cafeteria. At this point, he interjected, "So we should still support Chiang Kai-shek. Look at Wuhan and Jiujiang. One is a mess, the other is stable. Isn't that the biggest difference?"

Chen Guangfu: "Commander Chen, I'd like to ask, how much funding does a division in your department need per month?"

Chen Tianheng: "After you and other prominent figures gather in Nanchang, I will also go to the headquarters in Nanchang to discuss these issues in detail with you on behalf of Commander-in-Chief Chiang. ... But this is not a small amount of money. It's not just the monthly wages and food for the soldiers, but also the large amount of military supplies, weapon wear and tear, and ammunition usage. In this regard, the abundant weapons and ammunition provided by the Soviet Union are almost free. If we raise them on our own, it would be difficult. In addition, if we want to establish a new unit, the investment in purchasing guns and weapons is even huge."

Chen Guangfu: "I should still be able to afford this amount of money."

Chapter 124

Zhang Jingjiang, Chen Guangfu, Dai Jitao and others observed the First Division military camp and felt it was very good.

There were over a thousand soldiers stationed at the training center. They hadn't seen the specific exercises, and even if they had, they probably wouldn't have understood them. However, the officers and soldiers who came and went in the barracks were all neatly dressed, full of energy, sitting like a bell, standing like a pine tree, and walking like the wind. Regardless of the underlying quality, the presentation was impeccable.

While they were having dinner in the cafeteria, outside were the soldiers who had finished their training, showered, changed clothes, and gathered to wait for dinner. They were lined up by battalion and company, singing military songs one after another.

"This training center is a ready-made one. It used to be the barracks for a regiment of Sun Chuanfang's First Division of the Gan Army," Chen Tianheng said. "To be honest, the conditions there weren't very good. Over thirty people crammed into one dormitory, sleeping on large bunk beds. A large tiled house with four rooms housed an entire company. Even if the officers didn't get special individual quarters and had to share bunk beds with the soldiers, it would still take more than a dozen buildings to accommodate the entire regiment. And the buildings needed for a barracks aren't just for sleeping quarters. There's also the mess hall where we're eating today, headquarters, staff headquarters, conference rooms, armories, food and supply storage... This is the entire complex of buildings you see at the training center. Supervisor Zhang and Mr. Chen, both businessmen, should know more about the exact total cost than I do."

Chen Guangfu looked around, mentally estimating the scale of this training center/barracks project, and nodded. "We'll need to build a lot of buildings... This is the barracks for a Gan Army regiment. A division has three such regiments, right?"

Chen Tianheng: "In Sun Chuanfang's Beiyang Army, each division was composed of two brigades, with each brigade consisting of two infantry regiments. Our Northern Expedition Army, especially the First Army, adopted the Soviet Union's organizational structure, with divisions directly under the command of regiments, and each division had three infantry regiments. This system of one division and three regiments allows for more flexible organization and more efficient use of manpower and equipment. However, a division's subordinate units aren't limited to just those three infantry regiments. The most common direct-affiliated unit, which Mr. Chen must have heard of, is the artillery. Each division of the Northern Expedition had an artillery battalion, but this type of artillery firepower was actually quite insufficient. In developed European countries, a division had an artillery regiment."

Chen Guangfu: "I've handled bank transactions involving arms before, and I've reviewed all the account books. It's true that artillery is incredibly expensive. A rifle could be purchased for just over thirty or forty yuan, with a 20% or 30% handling fee added due to international law. Mountain artillery cost several thousand silver dollars each, plus the added cost of shipping it into China. Artillery shells were also expensive; some imported shells could be used to replace a rifle."

Chen Tianheng: "Actually, that cannon is only part of the artillery component. It's just that the other costs may not involve imports or exports, so you don't see the account. The simplest one is the draft horses. A 75mm mountain gun requires two draft horses to tow it, and a 75mm field gun requires six. Horses are needed to pull the cannon, and horses are also needed to pull the cannonballs. Logistics troops, carrying food, fodder, ammunition, artillery shells, and other baggage also need carriages. Even if an infantry division doesn't have cavalry, it still needs thousands of draft horses to operate. With so many horses, the army needs a dedicated staff of grooms, and there are many more grooms than cooks."

"I opened a car transportation company in Jiujiang. In fact, cars are better than horses. They are more powerful than horses and not as delicate as horses." Wan Zhongzhen said.

As one of the four major families in Jiujiang, the Wan family imported cars from the United States in 1923 and opened a trucking company to undertake transportation business around Jiujiang.

Chen Tianheng: "Mr. Wan's vision is indeed very modern. Cars are motorized means of transportation and are much more advanced than mules and horses. But the problem is that China cannot produce cars right now."

Wan Zhongzhen: "That's true."

Chen Tianheng, Chen Guangfu, and Zhang Jingjiang chatted for a long time about the topic of "how much does it cost to maintain an army." Now they both realized that the army is indeed not cheap. Unless it is supported by the state machinery, few businessmen can afford such a money-consuming behemoth.

However, Chen Guangfu still believed in his heart that even so, if the Jiangsu and Zhejiang financial tycoons united, it should not be a problem to supply a smaller army, at least for two or three years.

Dai Jitao, who was traveling with them, didn't want to discuss the topic. He only needed to manage his connections within the Party and government, as well as with the merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and bring them to Chiang Kai-shek. Seeing that the military camp had a basketball court, Dai Jitao immediately got itchy and started shooting hoops.

It's true, Dai Jitao just took off his suit jacket, put on overalls and leather shoes and went on the court to play. His dribbling and shooting were all very skillful. He must have practiced basketball seriously when he was studying in Japan.

Seeing the guy in overalls having so much fun on the basketball court, Chen Tianheng couldn't stand it anymore. He had to give a perfunctory answer to end the conversation and sent the four of them away before dark.

……

Jiujiang.

Ford Hospital Nursing School.

Although Jiujiang was just a fourth-tier city at that time, it did have some modern educational foundation: a normal school and a nursing school.

The normal school can’t use it for the time being, but the nursing school and the first normal school can use it.

"Commander, 50 medical trainees have been selected and their tuition has been paid. But the school said that completing the training in 5 weeks is too difficult."

Huang Wei was in charge of this task: selecting a group of soldiers from the First Division, sending them to the Fude Hospital Nursing School for training, and then assigning them to various companies as medics. The First Division was currently in dire need of medics. Even in Chen Tianheng's original unit, the 1st Regiment, nearly half of the medics had no professional training. They could just pick any random soldier and assign him the responsibility of carrying first aid medicine and applying bandages to the wounded.

"Hello, Dr. Kang."

Chen Tianheng went to the nursing school in person and met Kang Aide, the founder of Fude Hospital Nursing School/Fude Hospital.

Kang Aide was probably one of the earliest female nurses in China to receive modern nursing professional training. After obtaining her nursing license, she also passed the medical qualification examination. She returned to China in 1896 and founded Fude Hospital in Jiujiang. In 1901, she founded the nursing school affiliated with the hospital.

Kang Aide: "Sir, the minimum training period for a nurse is six months."

"Our unit won't be stationed in Jiujiang for long. At most, we can only devote five weeks to training our medical staff. I'm very sorry," Chen Tianheng said. "I can only ask you to speed up the training. You can pay extra."

Kang Aide: "But I have a suggestion. Why not recruit this year's graduates directly from our nursing school? I've asked these nursing students for their opinions, and they are all very willing to join the army."

"Hello, sir. My name is Xie Wenqin." "My name is Yang Xiuyan. We are both students of the 25th class of the Nursing School..."

Behind Kang Aide, two young girls eagerly introduced themselves. Chen Tianheng shook his head. "My dear students, the First Division is not yet ready to accept female soldiers. I'm very sorry, but this is because the First Division doesn't have the necessary conditions. There will be female soldiers in the army in the future, but we don't have the conditions right now."

You can't have a female medic squeezed into a row of bunk beds with thirty or so other soldiers. Chen Tianheng knew that there were female students at the Wuhan branch of the Whampoa Military Academy, but after graduation, these female students didn't become platoon leaders in ordinary combat units.

Of course, if it weren't the company medics but the field hospital, there could be female nurses. However, neither the First Division nor any other division of the Northern Expedition had the conditions to equip a field hospital. This kind of "high-end" organization was not necessarily available even at the army level of the Northern Expedition.

Chen Tianheng revamped the teaching schedule with the nursing school, asking the school to cut non-essential courses, leaving only surgical nursing and infectious disease treatment. He also asked the school teachers to work overtime, and the students attended classes or practical training day and night (practical training also required teacher guidance), barely shortening the training period to 35 days.

After capturing Nanchang and Jiujiang, the Northern Expedition had indeed paused. The Northern Expedition had also paused in Wuhan, delaying its advance into Henan. Both armies were waiting for T.V. Soong to raise funds. According to Chen Tianheng's estimate, by the end of 1926, Soong would have raised the funds, at which point the First Division would have been ready to march towards Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou.

As for the Jiangsu and Zhejiang business consortium that Chiang Kai-shek invited to Nanchang for discussions, the two sides probably failed to reach an agreement during the first discussion.