Chapter 12 Faith

  "Wen Yuan, your words have hit the nail on my heart," Hu Longxiang chuckled and then sighed, saying, "Now is exactly when the Beijing government needs talents. Although the original intention of the army university I cultivated was to serve the Northern Government, from the first three batches of graduates, it can be seen that many people ultimately did not follow this intention, but chose to go to local troops instead."

  Xu Shao-wen did not express any opinion, but in his heart, he felt that Hu Long-xiang was too serious about the Army University. The Army University had trained more than a thousand military talents from the first to the third regular class, and more than half of them were now serving in the Army Staff Headquarters, which was already quite good. There was no military school that produced military talents who all followed the will of the military school.

  Even the famous Baoding Military Academy cultivated talents who later became Han traitors.

  Hú Lóng Xī looked at Xú Shào Wén's face and continued: "This time, in the competition with Baoding Military Academy, the General Staff also has another idea, which is to test which of the current students of the Army University are truly loyal to the government. For those students who are loyal to the government, the General Staff will have special rewards."

  Upon hearing this, Xu Shao Wen involuntarily perked up a bit, as the special award given by the Military Academy to the top winners had been a topic of much discussion earlier, and he was also very curious about it himself.

  "This special reward, during this period of time, many students had guessed it, and some people even guessed correctly." Hu Longxiang saw Xu Shaowen's expectant gaze, smiled slightly, and didn't plan to continue keeping secrets, directly saying, "The Army Staff Headquarters has decided to give the thirty winning students a commendation for retention, and grant them formal military ranks."

  Hú Lóng Xíng paused for a moment, then said: "All the students who have been enrolled in the school will be directly assigned to the Army Staff Headquarters after graduating smoothly. From staff officer to guard officer, they will be allocated according to their grades at the time of graduation. After the competition is over, the Staff Headquarters will uniformly award the winner with a junior lieutenant rank, and also allow students to wear military ranks in school."

  "It seems that the officers of the General Staff are eager to find talent." Xu Shao Wen smiled, and the rewards of being named and granted a military rank were indeed attractive. Since he had traveled back to the Republic of China, he didn't have much money on him anyway. If he graduated and was assigned to a bad army unit, his second half of life would be spent in poverty. However, if he won this competition, his career path would be paved.

  "So, your uncle Xu Lao specially asked me to pass on a message to you, Wen Yuan," Hu Longxiang saw the look of longing in Xu Shao's eyes and finally had some confidence that the Beiyang government would gain another talent. "Your uncle has high hopes for you, so be sure to do well this time. As for what path to take in the future, I'm sure you'll know without us saying much."

  Xu Shao Wen immediately sat up straight and said seriously: "Shao Wen must cherish this opportunity, if he can luckily win this time, it will also be a step closer to reporting to the country."

  "Well said!" Hu Longxu nodded in agreement.

  The three of them chatted for a while about other matters, Hu Longxiang asked Xu Shaowen many questions about his life in college, showing the concern of a principal or elder to their junior. Later, Jiang Shouji suddenly mentioned again the matter of obtaining regular military rank.

  "Wen Yuan, if you wear the lieutenant's insignia in the academy in the future, it means you are a real officer," Jiang Shouqi said with emphasis. "Not to mention other things, if you have an epaulette on your body, even if you are an instructor, if his rank is lower than yours, he must salute you, and there are many other conveniences."

  Xu Shao Wen blinked his eyes and asked: "Shao Wen always thought that military rank was a symbol of soldiers, could there be other conveniences?"

  On the side, Hu Longxu nodded secretly to Xu Shao's answer, but showed great dissatisfaction with Jiang Shouqi's statement that military rank would bring other conveniences. It was clear that Jiang Shouqi had distorted the essence of being a soldier.

  Jiang Shouqi did not see Hu Longxian's face, and continued to laugh loudly: "Recently, after the new reform regulations of the Army University were released, two assessments, namely 'Queue Attached Duties' and 'Field Training', will be added to the students' learning in the future. Because military academies are not ordinary schools, all military school students must focus on actual combat and practical work."

  Xu Shao-wen immediately understood after Jiang Shou-qi mentioned the detachment duty and field training. Since 1914, the Army University has not only taken back the right to education from foreign instructors through the reform of regulations but also formulated a series of new teaching systems, such as the new admission requirements for the Army University that were discussed in the early morning classes, which is one of them. Detachment duty and field training are two practical methods, roughly similar to the internships of 21st-century universities.

  Field training is easy to understand, mainly divided into three types. One is to arrange entry into the army that is conducting actual combat or exercises, and participate in combat on the spot. The second is a staff trip, where students are organized to visit and study various staff agencies in different countries. The third is an internship trip, which has a broader scope than a staff trip and has no fixed format.

  For field training, Xu Shaowen has a feeling that in the early 21st century, going abroad was very difficult. There were many trivial matters such as visas and passports, and one had to have a certain amount of family property accumulated. However, compared to several decades ago, going abroad is now extremely common. Looking at the older generation of revolutionaries, most of them have been to Japan, Germany or the Soviet Union.

  As for the detachment service, it is to dispatch trainees to designated military and political agencies at home to take up intern positions, learn and actually participate in the functional use of intern positions. Usually, the detachment service takes longer than the field training, typically lasting from three months to half a year.

  However, whether it is field training or unit attachment, there will be strict audit and examination supervision. Even if the trainee is abroad, there will be at least one supervisor by their side to record and observe the trainee's behavior and ability. For unit attachment, the head of the organization where the trainee is assigned is the supervisor. At regular intervals, the supervisor will evaluate the trainee truthfully, and these evaluations will be directly included in the trainee's annual examination and graduation examination scores.

  Looking at Xu Shao's deep thinking appearance, Jiang Shouqi burst out laughing and said: "What, are you afraid of this new learning method?"

  "It's nothing, the students just don't quite understand what this wilderness training and team attachment is all about." Xu Shaowen was taken aback, quickly pretending that he had never heard of these two terms before, looking puzzled for a moment.

  Jiang Shouqi introduced the detailed content of the team's attachment and field training to Xu Shaowen. Xu Shaowen originally knew about it, but now he still had to pretend to be curious and listened carefully again. After Jiang Shouqi finished explaining, he said: "Generally speaking, field training and team attachment are carried out separately. Every year, according to the specific situation, students will be sent out to study separately. Basically, all students will experience team attachment and field training, it's just a matter of sooner or later."

  "It's really great, as the ancients said, reading ten thousand volumes is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Only by leaving the campus can we broaden our horizons." Xu Shaowen sighed and said with a look of extreme longing.

  "What I just said, if you have a formal military rank, then during the attachment or field training, it will not be as an intern officer, but as a real officer. No matter what you do or where you are assigned, it will be much more convenient." Jiang Shouqi returned to the original topic. "So, this time, you must take the test seriously."

  Hú Lóng Xī's face turned slightly unpleasant upon hearing Jiāng Shòu Qí's careless remark, but he didn't rush to show it in front of Xú Shào Wén. He smiled faintly and said: "It's getting late, Wén Yuǎn, you haven't had dinner yet, so go back first. In two days' time, the trainees participating in this competition will head to Bǎo Dīng, so make more preparations."

  Xu Shao stood up straight and solemnly bid farewell to Hu Longxiang and Jiang Shouqi, then turned around and left the office.

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