Chapter 27: The Unexpected Test (Part One)

  Song Zhe-wu, who had just returned from his escape, met the communications soldier sent by Chief of Staff Xiao Guo-dong at the city gate. He hastily returned to the division headquarters, where Xiao Guo-dong was anxiously waiting. Song Zhe-wu was somewhat surprised: "What's going on?" "Just now, Secretary Chen came and said that in 5 days, Lu Zuo, the head of the Second Department of the Central Party Committee and the Central Disarmament and Demobilization Inspector, along with his entourage, will arrive at Laiyuan." "What is their purpose for coming to Laiyuan?" Song Zhe-wu was somewhat puzzled. "According to Secretary Chen's words, Lu Zuo is here to specifically handle our joining the Nationalist Party, but his identity as an inspector makes me a bit worried. Will Nanjing be suspicious of this branch of troops and want to disband us?" Xiao Guo-dong said with concern.

  Song Zhe Wu took out a delicate silver cigarette case, pulled one out, lit it and took a deep drag, leaning back in his chair with furrowed brows. Song Zhe Wu didn't usually smoke often, only taking out his small cigarette case when he encountered a tricky problem. Xiao Guo Dong knew Song Zhe Wu's habit and didn't disturb him, quietly sitting on the side.

  Song Zhe-wu finished a cigarette and had an idea in his mind: "Xiao Da-ge, I think this Lu Zuo is not here to reduce the security troops. It should be what that Chen guy said, he's here to handle our joining of the Nationalist Party. This troop reduction is clearly because Nanjing is deeply worried about the various local factions having their own armies and being too powerful to control. And mainly it's aimed at the Guangxi clique, the Northwestern Army, and the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, other troops won't be touched for now. Firstly; secondly, we are a security force from Hebei province, originally not included in the reduction list. Even if there was going to be a reduction, it would have to go through the Hebei provincial government. If Nanjing wants to reduce our security troops, they must inform the Hebei provincial government. But now, there's no news from Beiping, which means Lu Zuo and his group are not here to reduce our security troops."

  Xiao Guodong was originally a wise and intelligent person, but he was too sensitive about disarmament. As the second most knowledgeable person in the Security Regiment after Song Zhiwu, he understood the true strength of the regiment and the family background of Song Zhiwu. It would be unrealistic to take this large army out now and challenge various factions, but once there is an opportunity, he will definitely make anyone tremble with fear. As the saying goes, "concern leads to chaos", Xiao Guodong deeply knew that it was not easy for his younger brother to lead this troop, and it would be even harder to preserve this troop and achieve his ambitions. Because of excessive concern, he didn't think clearly for a moment. When Song Zhiwu spoke up, he immediately understood the situation.

  "Weng Ge, your analysis is correct. I think Luzo's arrival might also have the purpose of observing our strength up close, so I think it's time for us to show off our strength now."

  If the course of history continued to follow its predetermined path, then from March 29th onwards until the Central Plains War in 1930, everything would be thrown into chaos. Although hiding one's strength could achieve unexpected effects, it also had a drawback: being underestimated and not easily recognized by various parties, making it difficult to achieve his goals. In the past, hiding one's strength was because he was too weak and small, easy to be swallowed up by various parties; but now, he has grown up and become very strong, except for Nanjing, there is no one who can easily devour him, now indeed should be his high-profile debut.

  Here is the translation:

  Thinking of this, Song Zhe-wu said to Xiao Guo-tong: "Now it's time for us to show our strength. I think we should bring forward our original half-year assessment period and start in 5 days." Xiao Guo-tong thought for a moment and said: "Wen Ge, I think we should set the starting time on the second day after Luzuo arrives, which is roughly 5 or 6 days later. Also, do you think we should send a telegram to Beiping?" "If we must send one, let's tell Beiping everything about Luzuo's arrival." Song Zhe-wu said without hesitation. This matter must be told to Shang Zhen, as he is currently the only protective umbrella for the Security Regiment. If they were to mislead him into thinking that the Security Regiment had abandoned him and was leaning towards Nanjing, it would not be good, even though Shang Zhen himself was also leaning towards Nanjing.

  Five days later, Lu Zuo and his party finally arrived in Laiyuan, because there were less than 20 days before the Spring Festival. Lu Zuo was anxious to return to Nanjing to spend the New Year with his family, so he worked at an unusually high efficiency. On that afternoon, a collective admission ceremony was held for all officers above the company level of the Security Brigade in the front yard of Ge Yuan Temple. The officers and soldiers below the company level were immediately returned to their respective regiments by the regimental commanders and Lu Zuo's entourage to fill out forms and hold ceremonies. By 6 pm, more than 80,000 people from the Security Brigade in Laiyuan had completed the procedures.

  That night, at the only wine tower in Laiyuan County, after a dinner party for Lu Zuo and his entourage, Lu Zuo claimed to have something to attend to and returned to Nanjing the next day. Only Wen Qing, an instructor from the Nanjing Military Academy who had accompanied him, was left behind. This made Song Zhe Wu, who had originally wanted to show off in front of Lu Zuo, feel quite depressed. However, Wen Qing had heard that the Security Brigade would be conducting training assessments the next day and was very interested. Lu Zuo explained to Song Zhe Wu that this was a habit Wen Qing had developed as an instructor, always observing troop training wherever he went, and hoped that Song Zhe Wu could provide convenient conditions for him. Although Lu Zuo's departure made Song Zhe Wu feel somewhat lost, Wen Qing was still okay with it. Anyway, he had made up his mind not to hide his strength anymore, so he immediately indicated that Wen Qing could go to each regiment to observe as he pleased.

  The next day, Song Zhe Wu went to ask Wen Jiao Guan to watch the assessment. Wen Jiao Guan expressed that he only needed to assign one staff member to accompany him, and did not want to affect Song Zhe Wu's hosting of the evaluation. Song Zhe Wu was happy with this arrangement, so he called back Chu Feng from the county and had him accompany Wen Jiao Guan throughout the process.

  The assessment of the security team lasted for more than half a month, until February 1st. During this period, Wen Qing accompanied by Chu Feng ran through various teams' assessment venues. After the assessment of the 4th team's combat skills, he even had the guard squad he brought with him compete against the 4th team's top-scoring squad in a match, which left Song Zhe Wu somewhat surprised - although the opposing squad was completely defeated, the remaining 8 members of the 4th team's squad were all injured.

  The entire assessment is divided into four stages: the first stage is queue, armed cross-country, shooting, and bayonet assessment; the second stage is from individual to team tactical assessment; the third stage is team confrontation drills; and the last day is the full brigade. Including special forces' comprehensive drills. Among them, the special forces are only a part of the comprehensive drill, but their mission is known only to Song Zhe Wu and Xiao Guo Tung. This full brigade comprehensive drill was unknown to each battalion commander beforehand, and it was conducted in a sudden attack manner. The exercise order was issued at 1:00 AM, and all battalions were required to conduct long-distance rushes. Each battalion received continuous reports of changes in enemy situations along the advance route and had to quickly respond to these changes. The exercise ended at 8:00 AM on the second day. Due to frequent nighttime emergency drills in the past, each battalion arrived at the designated area within the required time. However, this time the rushing distance was farther than before. Battalions 4, 5, and 6, which were newly established, appeared somewhat disorganized. Nevertheless, Song Zhe Wu was extremely pleased in his heart. Through this assessment, he knew that his troops not only qualified as a regular force but could also be called an elite army, lacking only actual combat experience.

  The troops returned to their respective garrisons at noon. Cadres above the regimental level rushed to the division headquarters for evaluation. The comprehensive evaluation results were announced. Due to the sudden night raid exercise, Wen Qing was not notified, and even Chu Feng did not know. The two only found out in the morning, so they had to wait at the division headquarters. Song Zhe Wu explained to Wen Qing why he was not notified. Wen Qing smiled and expressed understanding, and asked to participate in their evaluation. Song Zhe Wu naturally agreed.

  The evaluation meeting was also a celebration. A long table had been set up in the courtyard of the travel department. Everyone had been busy from dawn till afternoon and hadn't had a good meal yet. So, wine and dishes were already laid out on the table.

  The assessment results were announced by Chief of Staff Xiao Guodong: The comprehensive scores of all brigades met the assessment standards. There was no brigade commander who was demoted and retained. This made these brigade commanders, especially the three new brigade commanders, secretly breathe a sigh of relief. However, there must be a last place in the individual subject assessment. This time, except for Artillery Brigade Commander Liang Fang, the commanders of Brigades 1 and 2 were not fined. The other brigades were all fined, with Brigade 5 having three brigade-level cadres fined the most, each being fined 3 taels of silver. When announcing the results of the fines, Chu Feng quietly explained to Wen Qing. Wen Qing first smiled without speaking, then saw that the brigade-level cadres of Brigade 3 who were only fined a few or even just one tael of silver all looked dejected and downcast. There were also the cadres of Brigades 1 and 2 and the Artillery Brigade who were not fined, looking proud and arrogant. Wen Qing's eyes gradually became serious as he looked at Song Zhe Wu.

  "Gentlemen, after five months of training, you have all achieved results that satisfy me and the chief of staff. I am delighted to see that not a single one of you has been demoted or left behind. This means that you are all qualified officers. It also shows that the chief of staff and I, as well as the two commanders Zhang and Gao, and Commander Liang, have done a good job in teaching you. Because we have taught you personally, hand in hand.

  Seeing you all grow up makes me truly happy from the bottom of my heart. As I raise this first cup of wine, I would like to toast the chief of staff and the two commanders Zhang and Gao, as well as Commander Liang."

  The few people who were mentioned stood up under the leadership of Xiao Guodong.

  Song Zhe continued: "The achievements of our security regiment today are all thanks to your efforts. Now, all the officers above battalion level in our security regiment are your students. Some are even students of your students. You can be called 'master teachers'."

  Song Zhe's words caused a burst of laughter from below, which livened up the somewhat dull atmosphere.

  "You are the great contributors to our security regiment. I salute you all." As he said this, he downed his cup in one gulp.

  After Xiao Guodong and others finished drinking and sat down, Song Zhe continued: "The second cup of wine, I would like to toast all the officers of our security regiment present here. It is precisely because of your efforts that the military quality of our entire security regiment has improved significantly. Today, I can proudly say that our security regiment has truly become a real army."

  After everyone finished drinking, Song Zhe raised his third cup: "This cup, I would like to toast all the officers who were fined during this assessment."

  Song Zhe's words made everyone, especially those who had been fined, somewhat surprised.

  "You may have been fined," Song Zhe continued, "but the difference between you and those who were not fined is very small. Some of you only lagged behind by a single company or even just one platoon. As long as you continue to work hard, I believe you will quickly catch up with them."

  After pausing for a moment, Song Zhe added: "Also, I want to tell you that the wine we are drinking now was specially purchased from Shanxi province by the chief of staff. It is all good wine that has been aged for 30 years. This one jar alone is worth several dozen yuan. You were only fined three yuan at most. Drink a few more cups and you will have drunk back what you lost."

  As soon as he finished speaking, there was another burst of laughter from below. Even Wen Qing couldn't help but laugh.

  The officers who had been fined initially also couldn't help but smile, but then many of them had tears in their eyes. The commander of the 5th battalion stood up first, holding his cup and saying: "Commander, please be assured that we will not disappoint your expectations. We will definitely catch up quickly."

  To hide the tears that were about to fall, he loudly said: "I was fined three yuan. I will follow the commander's words and drink three more cups to make up for it." After finishing his cup, this time everyone did not laugh.

  The other battalion commanders also stood up one after another, expressing their determination to train their troops well...

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