Chapter 17: Military Academy Confrontation (Part 1)

  The next morning, after breakfast, Song Zhe Wu accompanied Shang Zhen to see off Yan Yang Chu and others. Liu Pei did not come with them today because he had to distribute the things brought by Song Zhe Wu to each unit.

  Song Zhe-wu yesterday promised Yan Yang-chu, to use the convoy of trucks to send them to Ding County, so, on the streets of Beiping appeared a scene that attracted the attention of passersby, Shang Zhen's black sedan was escorted by his guards in front, 30 trucks followed behind in an imposing manner, all the way to Yan Yang-chu and others' residence.

  Yan Yangchu and others had already packed their bags, accompanied by several main cadres of the Pingjiao Association, waiting at the entrance of the residence. As soon as Shang Zhen and Song Zhiwu got off the car, Yan Yangchu brought them over to greet Shang Zhen and introduced these several main cadres of the Pingjiao Association to Shang Zhen and Song Zhiwu.

  Among these people, there was a 16-year-old who passed the imperial examination to become a scholar, and then studied in the United States for 11 years, majoring in politics and philosophy. After the founding of the Republic of China, he was elected as a senator in the first National Congress. Later, he devoted himself to teaching and served as the principal of the National Beijing Law and Political Science School. Currently, he is the director of the Ping Jiao General Association's Department of Commoner Literature, Chen Zhu-shan; The founder of the National Beijing Art School, currently serving as the director of the Ping Jiao General Association's Audio-Visual Education Department, Zheng Jin; A Harvard Ph.D., who returned to China and volunteered to join the Ping Jiao General Association, humbly working in the Commoner Literature Department, Qu Jing-nong; An agricultural Ph.D. from Cornell University in the United States, who returned to China and served as a professor at Lingnan University in Guangzhou and Southeastern University in Nanjing, currently serving as the director of the Ping Jiao Association's Agricultural Department, Feng Rui; In 1917, he went to the United States to study, specializing in sociology and social survey research methods. He studied at Pomona College, Columbia University, and the University of California, earning a bachelor's and master's degree. Currently, he is the director of the Ping Jiao Association's Investigation Department, Li Jing-han. Since they had already set up an investigation office in Ding County earlier, some personnel were already stationed there. This time, the Ping Jiao Association was making a big move, with family members also moving together. There were 50 or 60 children and adults in total.

  Shang Zhen spoke with the crowd, while Song Zhe-wu directed a platoon of soldiers he had brought to help several Ping Jiao Hui staff load luggage and supplies needed for their work in Ding County onto the train.

  More than 50 people, and it was all loaded in no time. Song Zhe Wu returned to the crowd and Yan Yang Chu smiled and said: "Wen Ge, you've helped us a lot this time, not only did we save on transportation costs, but also on labor costs." "Mr. Yang, you're too kind," Song Zhe Wu said, pulling out two checks and handing one to Yan Yang Chu, saying: "Mr. Yang, Hebei has just experienced war and the provincial government is also facing financial difficulties, this 100,000 yuan is a donation from Chairman Shang to the Ping Jiao Association."

  Yan Yangchu held the check and said emotionally: "Wen Ge, Chairman Shang has already given us 200,000. You'd better take this money back. It's not easy to lead a team, and there are more places where you need to spend money."

  Shang Zhen saw that Song Zhe Wu was very concerned about the Pingjiao Association, and he was delighted in his heart. With a wave of his hand, he said: "Mr. Yang Chu, don't decline anymore. This is Wen Ge's heartfelt intention. If you refuse, it will chill Wen Ge's heart."

  Song Zhe-wu handed another check to Yan Yang-chu: "This 50,000 yuan is for Mr. Yang-chu to improve the living conditions of the Pingjiao Association staff." Seeing that Yan Yang-chu was about to say something, Song Zhe-wu continued: "Mr. Yang-chu, these cadres of the Pingjiao Association are all high-level intellectuals and elites of our nation. They can disregard personal gains and losses and go to work in rural areas. I deeply admire them. I have one more thing to tell Mr. Yang-chu, if there is anything inappropriate, please forgive me."

  "Weng, please speak up. Why is this soldier also becoming hesitant?" Yan Yangchu said with a smile, he was increasingly fond of this young military man who was both literary and martial.

  Song Zhe said, "Mr. Yang, you and everyone else are here to change the countryside, not to be changed by it." Yan Yangchu was taken aback for a moment before understanding what Song Zhe meant. He was referring to him, saying, "Moving from Beiping to Dingxian shouldn't just be a matter of several hundred miles; we should go down to the peasants and live among them." Yan thought for a moment before responding, "Wenge, I understand your meaning. I will do my best to improve their lives, and I'll take this money too."

  After seeing off Yan Yangchu and others, Shang Zhen and Song Zhe Wu rushed to Xishan. Shang Zhen's "Hebei Political and Military School" was located in the suburbs of Xishan. Shang Zhen considered that some of these people would go to the Security Brigade later, so he let Song Zhe Wu get acquainted with them earlier, in order to eliminate Song Zhe Wu's defensive psychology towards them. What he didn't know was that Song Zhe Wu was actually plotting against these people.

  An hour later, Shang Zhen and others arrived at Xishan. At this time, Song Zhewu's guard company, which was short of a platoon, also rushed over. It turned out that on the way, Shang Zhen suddenly had an idea to ask Song Zhewu to bring his guard company over and have them engage in a confrontation exercise with the military school. He claimed he wanted to test the training situation of the military school, but Song Zhewu understood that what Shang Zhen really wanted to test was his own troops, or more precisely, himself.

  The military school was located at the foot of a mountain in Xishan, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with a wall built on one side facing outside. When the team arrived at the gate, the sentry recognized Shang Zhen's carriage and did not block it, but only saluted and let them pass. Song Zhewu was very dissatisfied with the sentry's behavior.

  In front of the courtyard, there are many rows of brick and tile buildings that appear to be dormitories and teaching areas. Directly opposite the main gate is a 2-story building with a sign indicating it's the military school office area. There doesn't seem to be anyone in the front courtyard, but from the valley behind the mountain, faint sounds of shouting and killing can be heard.

  Commander Zhai saw Shang Zhen coming into the building and rushed out, loudly reporting: "Reporting to Chairman Shang, all cadets of the military academy are conducting confrontation drills on the training ground." Shang Zhen nodded and said to Song Zhewu: "Wenguo, we've come at just the right time. Let's go take a look. You're an expert in training troops, so give them some guidance."

  Under the leadership of the officer, along the mountain slope to a large open space in front of the valley, on the left side of the mountain slope, a large platform was built with logs, and a thatched shed was covered on top. From the side, many officers were seated on it, facing a large comprehensive training ground. On the left side of the empty space, about 500 student soldiers sat cross-legged, divided into four squads, and there were more than 200 students who were lining up in two squads inside the field.

  The arrival of Shang Zhen, the officers in the shed collectively came out to greet him. Shang Zhen first introduced these officers to Song Zhe Wu one by one. The first one with a lieutenant general rank was Wang Zhe, the director of military school training, who was around 40 years old and also a classmate of Shang Zhen at Baoding Military Academy. He had studied in Japan and was responsible for the training of the military school. The others were directors of various training departments and instructors, as well as six district team leaders. When Shang Zhen introduced the third district team leader Gu Xiong Yi, Song Zhe Wu couldn't help but take a few more glances at him. Gu Xiong Yi was not tall, but had a sturdy build, and what caught people's attention most were his eyes, which were particularly spirited. It was this Gu Xiong Yi who was the first to enter the school, and Wang Xing Gang was developed as a party member by him. There seemed to be another person who later became the deputy commander of the artillery, but Song Zhe Wu couldn't remember his name. When Shang Zhen introduced Gu Xiong Yi to Song Zhe Wu, Wang Xing Gang had already run into the crowd and was talking in a low voice with several familiar instructors, looking very happy to see them again. Among these people, the highest rank was Wang Zhe, while the others were all lieutenant colonels or majors. Wang Xing Gang was now a lieutenant colonel, and some instructors, especially those who were familiar with him from the training ground not far away, looked at him with envy.

  Shang Zhen came to the shed, sat down behind the table in the front row, pulled Song Zhe Wu to sit down, Wang Zhe sat on Shang Zhen's right hand, and everyone else found their own seats.

  Shang Zhen asked Wang Zhe, "What's the next exercise? Can we continue?" Wang Zhe replied, "It's the attack and defense exercise of the third and fourth brigades." After Shang Zhen nodded to start, Gu Xiong and the commanders of the four brigades returned to their respective teams and led them away. With the command of the exercise commander, the signal soldier sent out the start signal, and the exercise officially began.

  A 100-meter high small hill on the right side of the third district team's defensive drill ground, with the fourth district team as the attacking side. The attacking troops launched an attack under the cover of three Type 92 infantry guns. First, the three Type 92 infantry guns simulated firing at the target area for 10 minutes. During the artillery fire, the captain of the fourth district led his team to move to a position 200 meters away from the artillery impact zone. When the artillery fire began to shift its aim, the entire team started charging in a scattered formation. At this moment, everyone on the platform picked up their binoculars to observe, and Song Zhe Wu also took over Chu Feng's beloved Zeiss binoculars to observe.

  One side of the charge, although in a scattered formation, can clearly be seen to have divided into three waves, which is a typical Japanese army "Pig's Head" assault formation. In the soldiers' rapid advance and assault, it can be seen that individual soldier quality is good, and route selection during the charge is also not bad, but there is an obvious lack of coordination between them. Although there is machine gun suppressive fire cover, there is no mutual coordination or alternating cover in the charging formation, nor any firepower suppression.

  The 3rd company dug artillery holes in the trenches, leaving only one row at the front line. The battalion was defending against cannons on the back mountain, so the casualties from the first cannon attack were not significant, with only some trenches destroyed and minor injuries. As soon as the cannon fire extended, the troops on the back mountain immediately rushed to the top of the mountain. Although they were attacked by cannon fire during this time, the battalion still quickly arrived at the trenches. At that time, the attacking side was still more than 60 meters away from the top of the mountain. In the subsequent exchange of fire, the 3rd company utilized the advantageous terrain to launch a fierce attack, dealing a huge blow to the attacking side. Soon, the 4th company was determined to have lost the attack and retreated 100 meters. The three 92 infantry cannons then began firing again, covering the retreat of the infantry. After the exercise ended, it was determined that the 4th company had suffered heavy casualties and failed in its attack. The 3rd company successfully defended, but also suffered significant losses, mainly due to damage from the two cannon attacks.

  After listening to the assessment, Shang Zhen thought that this result was normal. In such a situation, the attacking side could only use its numerical advantage, repeatedly charging and consuming the opponent's personnel before finally occupying the position. However, Shang Zhen still wanted to hear Song Zhewu's opinion. If Song Zhewu had a better way to occupy the position with slightly less cost, it would prove that Song Zhewu not only knew how to train troops but also truly knew how to fight and was an excellent military talent. At least for now, he didn't have a better method.

  Shang Zhen smiled and said, "Wen Ge, Li Bai said it well, 'Not knowing the true face of Lushan, only because one is in this mountain.' Let an outsider like you be the judge of this attack and defense exercise."

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