Volume 1 Turbulent Times Chapter 33 Adjustment
In the blink of an eye, Lin Hu, who had been flying high, became a ghost under the gun. The huge contrast shocked everyone, although most people present had experienced the revolutionary wave in those years and were no strangers to the sight of swords and guns in the military camp. However, watching a colleague being taken away and executed so efficiently was a different story altogether, leaving them trembling with fear and their hearts racing.
"Comrades, please take a seat. I am just a scholar and basically an outsider in military affairs. In the current turbulent situation, I was entrusted by the Premier and appointed by the Ministry of War to come to our 8th Division for duty. As a newcomer, I would like to ask my senior comrades in the army to give me more guidance. I am still young and may not have considered things thoroughly, so if there is anything I did wrong, please criticize and correct me!"
Fang Zida seemed to have not heard the gunshots outside, and in an instant, he changed his expression to a smiling face, greeting everyone with courtesy. Although he spoke very politely and his attitude appeared sincere, who among the people present dared to take this seriously? Fang Zida had killed Lin Hu as soon as he appeared on the scene, clearly demonstrating that he was ruthless. Even someone like Lin Hu, who was known for being unruly, could be killed by him at will, and even Zhu Zhuowen's head had been chopped off. How could Fang Zida possibly be an ordinary person? Seeing his smiling and humble appearance, everyone secretly cursed him in their hearts, immediately categorizing him as a ruthless and cunning individual.
"It's nothing, it's nothing... I don't dare, I don't dare... Please, Vice-Commander Fang, teach me more..."
No one dared to utter a word, and with a forced smile, they nodded in agreement towards Fang Zidao. Huang Kaiyuan, who was best at flattering those in power, was the first to jump out and flatter excessively, loudly scolding Lin Hu for being arrogant and lawless, and revealing the evil deeds of this militarist hidden within the revolutionary ranks. He strongly supported the KMT Central Committee, Premier Song, the government, and Vice-Commander Fang's wise decision to execute Lin Hu according to military law.
Ma Pi's flattery was met with Fang Zida's smiling nod, and Huang Kaiyuan suddenly felt like he had eaten a ginseng fruit, his entire body's 3600 pores exuding a refreshing coolness, his face flushed with excitement, his spirit unusually invigorated.
"Shameless! Sycophant!" Li Ju cursed Huang Kaiyuan's baseness and shamelessness in his heart, but on his face he wore the same expression. Before Huang Kaiyuan had even finished speaking, he also started flattering him excessively, speaking with a tone that was even more vivid than Huang Kaiyuan's. When he spoke of Lin Hu's heinous crimes, he put on an air of being deeply grieved, with tears in his eyes, pounding his chest and stamping his feet, his emotions stirred up to the extreme. He seemed as if he would drag Lin Hu back from the dead and knock him to the ground once again, then trample him with one foot, making sure he would never be able to turn over again.
With an air of calmness, Fang Zidao sat at the top, watching the commotion in front of him. Although he was secretly laughing, he didn't show any contemptuous expression, but instead comforted the crowd with Yan An. Several days ago, after careful consideration, he had made up his mind that if he wanted to truly grasp control of the complex Eighth Division, Lin Hu must die. Not to mention Lin Hu's secret collusion with Li Liejun, attempting to split the country under the guise of revolution, just the fact that Chen Qimei sent Zhu Zuowen to buy off a large number of low-ranking officers in the Eighth Division was enough to seal his fate.
In addition, Lin Hu's independent regiment was composed of people from Guangdong Province, and the 8th Division, except for Zhao Hengti's direct troops, was formed by the original Guangxi New Army. Originally, Lin Hu's independent regiment had a poor relationship with the 8th Division, with many contradictions. Furthermore, Lin Hu relied on his independent regiment being strong and powerful, with high combat effectiveness, and he himself was from the Huang Xing Guard Regiment, so he was very arrogant and offended many people. Although killing Lin Hu would cause a temporary shock, compared to the overall stability of the 8th Division, Lin Hu's death would actually be beneficial. It was precisely these points that led Fang Zidao to make up his mind.
As for Zhu Zhuowen and Lin Liguo, they were just burial objects prepared by Fang Zidao for Lin Hu. Speaking of Zhu Zhuowen, when Fang Zidao learned that there was such a person causing trouble in Nanjing, he was tense for some time. However, after a thorough investigation, the result left him speechless. This Zhu Zhuowen, who claimed to be a loyal follower of Sun Wen, and a high-ranking general under Chen Qimei, was actually just a bookworm with only a passion for revolution, but nothing else. He brought only two subordinates to Nanjing, rushed into the military camp, waved banknotes, and loudly started buying people off. Fang Zidao let Zhang Huachen take action, and without much effort, he caught Zhu Zhuowen and his subordinates, and took their lives easily. As for the banknotes brought by Zhu Zhuowen, they were just added to Fang Zidao's pocket.
With these three heads, Fang Zidao indeed intimidated the mid-to-high-level officers of the Eighth Division. At the same time, he also cut off the retreat for some people who were trying to please both Song Jiaoren and Sun Wen, and now they had no way out. Looking at everyone's expressions and postures, Fang Zidao knew that his move was correct. After patiently listening to everyone's flattery and statements, Fang Zidao smiled and pressed down with his hand, indicating for everyone to sit down.
After drinking a mouthful of tea, Fang Zidao began to speak and proposed that due to Lin Hu's reason, the 8th Division decided to cancel the original Lin Hu Independent Regiment's organization, change the independent regiment to the 8th Division's temporary 33rd Regiment, and at the same time extract two battalions from the independent regiment to directly supplement the 29th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments. As for the personnel extracted, they will be supplemented by these four regiments from each battalion and company. All extracted and supplemented personnel will undergo mixed organization, which basically integrates the original Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hunan factions into one, breaking the original Lin Hu Independent Regiment's pure Guangdong faction pattern.
As for the lower-level officers of each group, battalion, company and platoon, except for retaining the deputy positions temporarily without adjustment, all the principal positions will be reassigned. When reassigning, only one deputy officer or a soldier on duty is allowed to follow the principal officer to take up their new post, no more than two people are allowed to transfer together. If there is any doubt or disobedience of military orders, the newly appointed commander of the division's military police corps, Zhang Huchen, will impose military punishment. Those who seriously violate this order will be immediately arrested and brought before a military court for trial.
The newly appointed commander of the 33rd Temporary Regiment is Li Shimao, the original commander of the 8th Artillery Regiment. The original deputy commander of the 8th Artillery Regiment has been promoted to regimental commander. The new deputy commander is Liu Zong. The deputy commander of the 8th Cavalry Regiment has been transferred to serve as the deputy commander of the 33rd Temporary Regiment, and the position of deputy commander is held by Xiong Shihui. The main military officers of the 29th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments remain unchanged for the time being. The commanders of the two mixed brigades, Wang Xiaozhong and Huang Kaiyuan, have been swapped, and Fang Zida has taken over as deputy commander of the 8th Division to oversee military affairs in both brigades.
In this way, Fang Zidao played a trick of "乾坤大挪移" (a Chinese idiom meaning to make a thorough change), dispersing the entire 8th Division and reorganizing it. However, he also considered maintaining combat effectiveness and overall structure, temporarily preserving the previous framework in local and detailed aspects. At least four main force regimental commanders' positions were not touched by him, which was also due to the special arrangement of the current situation.
"Is that basically it? Who's in favor of this arrangement and who's against?" Fang Zida asked with a smile, sipping tea to soothe his parched throat after speaking for an hour.
Everyone looked at each other in dismay, thinking that Fang Zidao's move was really too ruthless. Although the officials present had all been promoted, with some even rising half a level, once the adjustments were complete, the actual power they held would be greatly reduced compared to before. If they still treated their own teams as private property like before, it would be impossible.
They had the heart to object, but thinking twice, no one dared to speak out, so they reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"Alright, then let's trouble Zhao Shizhang to issue the next document and make adjustments immediately." Fang Zida smiled and turned his head to glance at Zhao Hengru, who nodded in understanding and took out a previously prepared order to arrange with the deputy officer.
Although a decision had been made, Fang Zidao did not intend to let everyone leave temporarily. He pulled everyone together and asked about the situation of each unit again. Everyone also understood the meaning behind Fang Zidao's actions. Since everything was already settled, it would be pointless to struggle further. In order to show their attitude, they might as well put down their guard and chat with Fang Zidao casually.
