Volume 1: Turbulent Times Chapter 34: Undercurrents Surge

  The adjustment of the Eighth Division went very smoothly, mainly because Fang Zidao had made arrangements early on, with the help of Zhao Hengyi, and also decisively killed Lin Hu, using the meeting to secretly detain all middle and senior officers of the Eighth Division. The entire adjustment was completed within three days.

  Of course, this was not a smooth process. Although Lin Hu's death was publicly announced as an assassination by Zhu Zhuowen, there were still many of Lin Hu's confidants in the independent regiment who were very clear about Lin Hu's relationship with Li Liejun, Chen Qimei and Zhu Zhuowen, and they would never believe such a bizarre claim. It is possible that Zhu Zhuowen wanted to kill others, but he would absolutely not lay hands on Lin Hu. Moreover, the sudden adjustment made it clear that there was a conspiracy.

  However, before these people could make their move, the constabulary sent by Fang Zidao immediately took control of them. After "investigation" and "legal interrogation", it was found that all of these people were members of the assassination plot. They were arrested on this charge and executed by firing squad at the Independent Regiment's barracks. The bloody corpses were scattered all over the drill ground, making all the ordinary soldiers of the Independent Regiment feel a chill run down their spines. No one dared to disobey the orders issued by the headquarters anymore. Even some old soldiers who had planned to sneak back to their hometowns in Guangdong also gave up on the idea and honestly followed the orders to report to the new troops.

  Apart from the independent regiment, some of the other regiments also had some lower-ranking officers who were dissatisfied with the adjustments. Among them, there were also people who had contact with Zhu Zhuowen before, but they were still hesitant and watching for the time being. For these lower-ranking officers, Fang Zidah was not too polite either. Of course, he didn't crack down on all of them uniformly, but rather followed military law and regulations, having the Military Police Corps investigate and then punish them according to their severity. The most severe punishment was only dismissal and detention. With Fang's thunderous methods, the entire 8th Division underwent a major transformation, meeting Fang Zidah's initial requirements.

  Three days later, it can be said that the military power of the Eighth Division was already in the hands of Fang Zidao and Zhao Hengti, but due to the sudden adjustment, the overall combat effectiveness of the Eighth Division declined and the ordinary soldiers were inevitably panicked. In response, Fang Zidao used another trick, which is the temptation of money.

  The Eighth Division was known as the KMT's strongest army, but its military pay had always been insufficient. Sun Yat-sen was originally a man who only knew how to spend money and not make it, and since Huang Xing, the founder of the Eighth Division, died, the division became an orphan without a father or mother, and its expenses could only be barely maintained with local support. In short, the Eighth Division was on the verge of bankruptcy due to military pay issues.

  After making adjustments, Fang Zidao issued a command in the name of the Eighth Division headquarters to make up for the owed military pay, and personally gathered all officers and soldiers for inspection. On the inspection platform, Fang Zidao waved his hand, and dozens of soldiers struggled to carry over ten large baskets, lifting off the red cloth covering them to reveal the eagle dollars inside.

  He walked over, kicked one of the baskets with his foot, and amidst the clanging sound, countless silver eagles filled the reviewing stand. Fang Zidao then loudly announced that this money was to make up for the military pay owed to everyone in the past, and from today on, the Eighth Division's military pay would no longer be delayed and would be issued in full.

  In addition, Fang Zidao publicly announced the implementation of eight new regulations for the Eighth Division: open expenses, unification of officers and soldiers, strict rewards and punishments, standardized training... These measures caused the entire division to be extremely excited, and for a time, what Lin Hu, Zhu Zhuowen, and adjustments to each regiment were all thrown to the back of their minds. In the hearts of ordinary soldiers, being a soldier and eating rations is a matter of course, without rations, no matter how good you talk, who will give their lives?

  One martial, one literary, one severe and one gentle. Fang Zida played these two hands beautifully, and in the blink of an eye, he won over the hearts of the people of the Eighth Division. These two moves made several regimental commanders look stunned, although they didn't say anything out loud, but in their hearts, they were both fearful and admiring.

  However, this method is something that they can't use even if they want to. Not to mention the battalion commanders and regimental commanders, even Zhao Hengti, the division commander, can't make it happen. Fang Zidao's advantage lies not only in the power and justice given to him by Song Jiaoren and the central government but also in the fact that so much money is not something an ordinary person can come up with. To be honest, this money didn't come easily; part of it was allocated through special approval from the Ministry of War after Song Jiaoren's efforts, while another part came from Fang Zidao's own pocket. He knew very well that to grasp a troop, relying solely on the loyalty of battalion commanders and regimental commanders is far from enough, not to mention whether their loyalty is genuine or not. Soldiers without faith and conviction are unreliable and have no fighting power. However, if one were to slowly reform these soldiers' thoughts and make them truly support themselves, it would take too long. There's no other way; in order to win the soldiers' hearts and give them motivation in the shortest time possible, money is the most old-fashioned but also the most effective method.

  As expected, when these eagles were distributed to the soldiers one by one, each soldier showed a different spirit, and from their excited eyes, it could be seen that the vast majority of soldiers recognized themselves as deputy regimental commanders, and the impact caused by Lin Hu's death in the 8th Regiment was also minimized.

  After doing these things, Fang Zidao did not relax his usual training for the Eighth Division. After inquiring about some backbone officers' opinions, he had someone compile a strict training outline and personally took charge of special training for the entire reorganized Eighth Division. Although the Eighth Division's combat effectiveness was not as good as it was in those years, its foundation was still there, and the training proceeded relatively smoothly. Half a month later, under Fang Zidao's guidance, the reorganized Eighth Division gradually regained its vitality, at least on the surface, it had already recovered to about 70-80% of its original strength when it was first established.

  "The importance of artillery, air force, artillery corps and cavalry corps should be clear to you, especially you, Jingfu. You studied artillery in military school. I hope your artillery corps can complete all training projects within these few days. Can it be done?" In the division headquarters office, Fang Zida was busy reviewing documents, writing while speaking to Liu Yi, the new deputy commander of the 8th Artillery Corps, and Xiong Shihui, the deputy commander of the 8th Cavalry Corps, who were standing in front of him.

  "Deputy commander Fang, our artillery and cavalry are technical troops, not comparable to the training of ordinary soldiers. The time is really too tight." Liu Zhen said with a bitter face, these days he and Xiong Shihui were called by Fang Zidao every other day to ask about the progress of the training, which made their heads big. For general troop training, artillery and cavalry training are completely different. Ordinary soldiers only need to pay some sweat and effort to barely meet the requirements, but artillery and cavalry are typical technical troops, especially artillery, which requires high cultural quality and calculation ability from soldiers. Moreover, the original 8th Artillery Regiment of the 8th Division was nominally a regiment, but actually only half a battalion, with all kinds of big guns in hand, and the personnel quality was also uneven. The original commander of the artillery regiment, Li Shimao, was an outsider who didn't take training seriously after taking office, and some cannons were not even maintained properly. It's really too difficult to train a qualified artillery unit in such a short time."

  As for the situation faced by the cavalry regiment, it was almost the same as that of the artillery regiment. Xiong Shihui had also been worried about this for days. The number of qualified cavalrymen in the regiment was too small because the original military expenses were insufficient and the regiment commander Liu Jianfan had been withholding military pay everywhere, causing even the horses in the regiment to be underfed, looking like they were on the verge of starvation, almost as thin as a large donkey.

  "What do you need, I'll supplement what's needed. Ah, yes, there are still some cannons in the armory, bring them all out and reorganize them by caliber and type, try to make them as standardized as possible. First, train a qualified artillery battalion. As for the cavalry, it can be done this way too, first select qualified war horses to form two cavalry companies, don't worry about the rest, just focus on training these two companies first." Liu Zhen and Xiong Shili's difficulties were not unknown to Fang Zida, but there was simply no time to spare at the moment. Putting down his pen, Fang Zida thought carefully and made a suggestion.

  Upon hearing this, Liu Zhen and Xiong Shihui exchanged a glance and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although the request was still not low, it was at least barely achievable compared to the original requirement. Seeing them agree, Fang Zida smiled and invited them to sit down with a pleasant expression. He asked some questions about their new work and inquired about their physical health, chatting for a while until Zhang Huchen knocked on the door and came in, only then did he let Liu Zhen and Xiong Shihui leave.

  "Beijing Army Department Telegram!"

  "Oh......" Taking the telegram from Zhang Huachen, Fang Zida only glanced at it and stood up with a serious expression. After quickly scanning the few lines, his eyebrows furrowed, and he couldn't help but pace back and forth in the room.

  "Pass on my orders!" Turning around to Zhang Huachen, he said: "Have Wang Lüchang and Huang Lüchang come to the division headquarters immediately, and also go invite Zhao Shizhang over."

  The other end of the Eighth Division headquarters was the office of Commander Zhao Hengyu. Since Fang Zida's arrival, Zhao Hengyu had been unusually cooperative. With his full cooperation, Fang Zida was able to eliminate Lin Hu and take control of the Eighth Division in such a short period of time. To outsiders, it seemed that Commander Zhao Hengyu was Fang Zida's superior in name only, but in reality, he had become Fang Zida's puppet. No matter what orders Fang Zida gave, Zhao Hengyu carried them out without hesitation or compromise. Especially during these days of reorganization and training, Zhao Hengyu showed an exceptionally cooperative attitude.

  Zhao Hengyi's behavior made the high-ranking officers of the 8th Division, who already looked down on him, even more disdainful. In their eyes, Zhao Hengyi was bound to be kicked out sooner or later, and the new arrival Fang Zidu would definitely take control of the 8th Division in the future. As a result, after the adjustment, two brigade commanders and several regimental commanders all rushed to join Fang Zidu's side, and no one took Zhao Hengyi seriously anymore.

  "Commander, you are the commander of the 8th Division! If it weren't for you, how would the 8th Division be in its current state? Vice Commander Fang has been doing too much lately..." As Zhao Hengru's confidant, the deputy officer said with some resentment. Recently, all the brigade commanders who came to report to the division headquarters, except for Tao Deming, went directly to find Fang Zida and didn't even bother to see Zhao Hengru. Not only was Zhao Hengru not angry, but he also smiled as if it were a matter of course, and even scolded Tao Deming after seeing him, saying that he shouldn't have come directly to him and should have followed procedure by reporting to Vice Commander Fang first.

  Time and time again, Zhao Heng's calm and composed demeanor was something that his deputy couldn't bear to see anymore. Upon entering the cold and quiet office of their superior officer, the deputy finally couldn't hold back and spoke a few words from his heart.

  "What nonsense are you spouting! It's all for the sake of revolutionary work, what distinction between us?! Zhao Heng's face suddenly fell, and he scolded a few words in displeasure. Then he continued: "Everyone has seen Vice-Commander Fang's abilities, I, Zhao, have been sitting in this position for so long, but my achievements are far inferior to Vice-Commander Fang's accomplishments in just over half a month! As a member of the 8th Division, seeing our division flourish again, I am truly delighted! In such a great situation, how can you say such absurd things?! Hmph! If it weren't for the fact that you've been following me for many years, I would have to send you to the military police!"

  "This... sir... I... I..." The deputy officer didn't expect his flattering words to backfire, and he was so flustered that sweat broke out on his forehead, and he couldn't even speak coherently.

  "Alright, alright, remember! Don't let it happen again!" Seeing him so frightened, Zhao Heng waved his hand and the deputy officer finally breathed a sigh of relief, wiping away the sweat that had dripped down.

  He no longer paid attention to the deputy officer, stood up and took a book with relish, pacing back and forth in the room while reading, shaking his head from time to time. Zhao Hengru now seemed not like a military man at all, but rather like a scholar who was going to take the imperial examination. Until the deputy officer helped him make tea and retreated in fear, Zhao Hengru's gaze finally moved from the book to the closed door, with a faint smile that was hard to detect at the corner of his mouth.

  Only one chapter today, but the words aren't few. Also, I took a look yesterday and it seems that the old book is gone, strange! Was it harmonized? Dizzy to death!