Chapter Fifty-Three: Reorganization (1)

  The welcoming banquet at noon didn't last long and soon came to an end. After everyone dispersed, Wang Changtian kept Hua Fuer behind and said: "Hua Zi, you must learn and observe more when you go there. These few types of weapons are very important to us, they must be successfully developed by the end of this year, otherwise it will have a great impact on our development. It's best if that engineer cannon can be researched ahead of time, that thing is simple, do you have confidence?"

  Hua Fu'er said: "I'll do my best! The worker-peasant cannon has already been studied, it's just that some data needs to be tested, and that thing doesn't have much technical content; the anti-tank gun you also saw, it's just a matter of bullets, I estimate it will be soon, in a month or two the bullets can be produced; as for the AK assault rifle, its production is a bit difficult, this still needs to wait a while, but it's almost done, I estimate that after half a year the gun can be finalized, don't worry! (Before September 1931, the Shenyang Arsenal had already produced the first automatic rifle, with a 10-round magazine).

  Wang Changhu nodded and asked again: "How about food and accommodation?"

  Hua Fu'er said: "Living and eating with their technicians, the conditions are okay."

  Wang Changhu turned his head and said to Xu Yingfa: "Give Huazai some money, just 500 silver dollars will do."

  Xu Yingfa went out and came back with a 500-dollar silver bill, handed it to Wang Changhu, who stuffed the money into Hua Fu'er's pocket and said: "It's not easy to study outside, you should spend some money when you need to, if it's not enough, I have more."

  Hua Fu'er's tears came down with a "splat" as he said: "Boss, I have some money on me, you're giving me too much."

  Wang Changhu patted his shoulder and said, "Made a profit from selling night pots? Even Big Head Zhao Yu gave me some, how many can you have left? Alright, gentlemen, don't bother, just take it; I won't send you off myself, let Fa Zi send you back."

  Wang Changhu turned his head and said to Xu Yingfa, "Later, you send Hua Fu's lieutenant colonel uniform over, and also assign a soldier to help with household chores.

  Xu Yingfa said: "Yes."

  Wang Changhu sent Hua Fu'er to the door and saw him get on the car before returning to his own office.

  The quartermaster burst in without knocking on the door and said, "Boss, these new recruits eat too much, you have to think of a way, or else our troops will be starved to death in no time!"

  Wang Changhu furrowed his brow and glanced at the military officer, saying: "What's going on? You're making a big fuss over nothing. Look at you, you've forgotten all about military discipline!"

  The quartermaster was taken aback and stood at attention with a "crack": "Report, boss, the new recruits are too capable of eating. Lunch hasn't even ended yet!"

  "What? It's all over and it hasn't ended yet?"

  The quartermaster said, "Boss, don't worry about the time for now, just go take a look. We've already had three meals, but the new recruits are still saying they're hungry. I'm at my wit's end, so I had to come find you!"

  Wang Changhu heard this and grabbed his military cap, then ran out and rushed towards the cafeteria.

  When Wang Changhu ran to the cafeteria, there were already crowds of people outside the cafeteria. The old soldiers surrounded the windows and doors of the cafeteria, looking inside as if they were watching a monster; Wang Changhu said angrily: "Liu Fang, where did Zhang San go? Get everyone to withdraw and reassemble on the playground."

  Liu Fang and Chang San came out of the crowd shouting: "Blow the assembly horn, get in formation and go."

  After all the veterans gathered at the entrance of the cafeteria, they headed towards the playground.

  Only about 1,000 new recruits stood neatly at the entrance of the cafeteria, while more than 5,000 others were still holding their bowls and standing there in a daze, stuffing food into their mouths.

  Wang Changhu was furious! He thought to himself: This isn't how you get by on free meals! There were over 5,000 rice bowls in total.

  Wang Changhu said to the military officer: "Gather 'round, I have something to say."

  The drill instructor had all the recruits assembled in front of the mess hall door in a moment.

  Looking at these children who are about the same age as himself, Wang Changhu felt deeply moved: "Whoever raises them, they can't be raised!"

  "Everyone sit down!"

  Wang Changhu looked at all the soldiers and thought about how to phrase it so as not to hurt these "little rice bowls".

  The teacher at Wang Changhu's kindergarten asked these "little rice buckets": "Hello, my name is Wang Changhu, I am your commander-in-chief. I'd like to ask, how's our food?"

  The following rice buckets immediately shouted in unison: "Delicious, really delicious, I'm still hungry!"

  Wang Changhu's one brain door black line.

  Wang Changhu asked again: "The food in our team is so good because there are many capable people in our team, what can you all do?"

  "Sir, I will shoot," said one;

  "Sir, I'll dig out the bird's nest." Another one said;

  "Sir, I can ride a horse and shoot a gun," another one chimed in.

  "Sir, I will do it." a loud voice shouted.

  “…………”

  Wang Changhu was so angry that his head was about to split open. He shouted: "Alright, shut up! All of you shut up!"

  The rice buckets saw Wang Changhu hurry up and shut their mouths obediently; Wang Changhu said: "Now I'll say something, if you know it, raise your hand, okay?"

  "Alright."

  Wang Changhu asked: "Who knows how to shoot a gun?"

  Everyone raised their hands, Wang Changhu was very satisfied;

  Wang Changhu asked again: "Who knows how to ride a horse?"

  With a "hiss", more than half of the people raised their hands, and Wang Changhu was taken aback.

  Wang Changhu added emphasis and asked: "I'm talking about riding a horse at full gallop without falling off!" His hands remained firmly on the reins.

  Wang Changhu thought to himself: Strange, there are really a lot of people who know how to ride horses?

  Wang Changhu shouted at the military officer: "Go and get Zhao Yunfei."

  Zhao Yunfei ran over after a while and asked: "Huzi, what are you looking for me?"

  Wang Changhu then told many people about riding horses. Zhao Yunfei heard it and laughed, saying: "Children from the mountains, who grew up on horseback since childhood, will naturally know how to ride; as for those from old troops, some are specialized in letting out horses for their superiors, so it's normal that they can ride."

  Wang Changhu nodded and asked doubtfully: "These soldiers are all good seedlings according to you, why were they all released?"

  "It's not that they can't eat, it's just that these kids are growing up and need a lot to eat. One of them eats as much as several ordinary people, who can afford it?"

  Wang Changhu gave him a white eye and said: "All of them, the best eaters in the entire Northeast are all here with me?"

  Zhao Yunfei chuckled and said: "About right!"

  Wang Changhu was taken aback and said: "Old Zhao, you're not being honest! If I eat like this, I won't be able to make a living!"

  Zhao Yunfei awkwardly said: "Uh, the old unit knows you're having a hard time, so they allocated some food subsidies for these kids. Also, the kids from the mountains, their families also brought some money, it's all with me, about 100,000 yuan?"

  Wang Changhu heard this and said to the quartermaster: "Quartermaster, come here for a moment."

  The quartermaster rushed over and asked: "Boss, what can I do for you?"

  Wang Changhu said: "Calculate how many taels of silver these children need for their food and clothing expenses per year?"

  The quartermaster said, "These children cost at least five cents per person per day, which is half a dollar, fifteen dollars a month, and one hundred and eighty dollars a year. Six thousand children would be over a million; half of this is paid by the young marshal, and the rest is all advanced by us."

  Zhao Yunfei almost fainted upon hearing this; his mouth murmured: "How is this possible? How is this possible?"

  He suddenly laughed again and said to the quartermaster: "Are you cheating me?"

  The quartermaster said: "Is it possible? Our soldiers' rations are almost as good as the small stoves of other battalion officers, can they be cheap?"

  Zhao Yunfei said with a bitter face: "Also, Tigerzi, what do you think we should do?"

  Wang Changhu thought for a moment and said to the quartermaster: "Special troops, is their food any better?"

  The quartermaster said: "That's for sure, let's take the cavalry as an example, their food allowance is 1.5 times ours, and their regular allowance is twice ours. They're really fat!"

  Wang Changhu stroked his chin and said, "You go give Young Master a report, just say I'm preparing to establish a cavalry brigade, with a total of 4,500 people; first send the report, even if it's the landlord or the rich, they can't hit me, right?"

  "The quartermaster's eyes widened and he said: 'It's easy to make a report, but where are the soldiers coming from?'"

  Wang Changhu nodded towards those student soldiers; the quartermaster asked in doubt: "Those rice buckets?"

  Wang Changhu said: "You go and handle it first, tell the situation clearly, I think General Shao will understand."

  "Right, Old Zhao, get Liu Fang to count the number of cavalrymen among the officers and soldiers. First, set up the framework for the cavalry regiment for me." Wang Changtiger said to Zhao Yunfei.

  "Alright." Zhao Yunfei nodded in agreement.

  Who would have thought that Liu Fang ran over at this time and said: "Boss is no good, you go take a look, the infantry regiment only has two and a half left?"