Chapter 5: The Merchant Chairman's Thoughts (3)

  The expressions of the two, Song Zhe Wu had seen. He said seriously: "It's not just a matter of Xiao Gezi, but one of the most important reasons I joined Chairman Shang's camp. Now, in various places, there are factions with real power, including the Central Army. Either due to regional or past affiliations, any isolated force without faction will inevitably be excluded. The Shanxi-Suiyuan army is no exception, but Chairman Shang has no faction within it. A person who doesn't have a faction and is even excluded by others won't go around attacking another isolated individual."

  "Well said!" Shang Zhen heard a satisfactory reply and was very pleased.

  Song Zhe-wu's words made it clear that he was telling Shang Zhen that Song Zhe-wu did not want to and would not join any other faction of the Shanxi-Suiyuan army, and would follow Shang Zhen instead.

  Shang Zhen's face was filled with smiles as he said, "We two are the lone souls and wild ghosts of the Shanxi Army. We two brothers can only rely on each other for support and cannot afford to push each other away. I just want to do a good job as the provincial chairman and bring peace and stability to the people of Hebei Province, benefiting our ancestors. Wen Ge, you must help me fulfill this wish!"

  At this point, Song Zhe-wu knew he had to make his position clear. He immediately stood up and replied in a loud voice: "The Mixed Brigade is a unit of the Hebei Provincial Government. From myself down to every soldier in the brigade, we only take orders from Chairman Shang. We will defend our territory and keep the people safe."

  Shang Zhen understood the implication of Song Zhe-wu's words, he only acknowledged that his troops were part of the Hebei Provincial Government, which was the vanguard force, and absolutely not part of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. Clearly expressing his attitude of closely following Shang Zhen.

  "Sit down and talk." Shang Zhen had a smile all over his face, pulled Song Zhewu to sit down after a moment of contemplation, and continued: "Hebei Province has been plagued by war for over a decade, with numerous bandits. Especially in the Taihang Mountains and Jiabei areas, there are hundreds of large and small bandit groups. In order to provide a stable living environment for the people of Hebei as soon as possible... Shang Zhen slightly raised his voice at this point: "I have decided that from today on, the Hebei Security Command will be established, with you appointed as the Security Commander."

  Song Zhe Wu stood up again and answered upright: "Thank you, Chairman, for your cultivation. I will never betray the Chairman's kindness!" Song Zhe Wu knew that his peach had been received by Li Bao.

  Song Zhe Wu's attitude made Shang Zhen very satisfied, and he asked casually: "Wen Ge, I heard that you've recruited some more men this time?"

  Song Zhe Wu has incorporated 23,000 people this time, adding to the original 18,000, now totaling over 40,000. According to the current organization, it is already enough to form an army. This unauthorized expansion behavior is absolutely not tolerated by all parties. Therefore, Song Zhe Wu was very low-key, and all the incorporated personnel were sent to Taiyuan at the first time. Although he was very careful, Song Zhe Wu knew that it was impossible for this matter to leak out without a single rumor. After thinking about it, he decided to tell Shang Zhen the truth.

  "To be frank with the chairman and the comrades, I have recruited a total of 23,000 people. Now our division has nearly 41,000 people."

  "41 thousand people!"

  Shang Zhen and Liu Pei were both shocked. Although they knew that Song Zhe Wu had secretly recruited many troops, but more than 40,000 troops could already form an army.

  Liu Pei knew that Shang Zhen had already accepted Song Zhe Wu, because the establishment of the Security Command Department was not mentioned beforehand. Seeing Shang Zhen somewhat distracted, he smiled at Song Zhe Wu and said: "Wen Ge, your more than 40,000 people can't even catch up with Zhang Yinwu's one army." He looked at Shang Zhen with a deep meaning and slowly said: "Your Security Brigade plus Chairman Shang's First Division has more than 60,000 people, which is not inferior to Zhang Yinwu and Fu Yisheng's troops.

  Shang Zhen also came to his senses at this time, it seemed that Song Zhe Wu was truly loyal to him, otherwise he wouldn't have spoken the truth. He didn't lack food or ammunition, even if he set up some ambushes, Shang Zhen wouldn't have noticed for a while. Since that's the case, he might as well be more generous. Moreover, with Song Zhe Wu, such a powerful subordinate, once he fell out with Shanxi, his own back would be stronger.

  Thinking of this, he burst out laughing and said: "Wen Ge, good kid! You've quietly gathered so many troops." Seeing Song Zhe Wu open his mouth to speak, Shang Zhen waved his hand to stop him, and continued in a serious tone: "The bigger the team, the better. However, you'll have to pay for the military expenses yourself. Don't even mention that the province can't afford this much money, even if they did, it wouldn't be convenient for them to give it to you. There are many people watching me closely now, and if Yan finds out, your troops will likely be disbanded. Moreover, I have four supplementary battalions of 12,000 men, which I'll also hand over to you. You'll have to solve the problem of weapons and equipment yourself. How about it?"

  "Everything will be arranged by the chairman." It seems that Shang Zhen not only agrees with his own interests in expanding the army, but also strongly supports it. Now he doesn't have to worry about money, and with Shang Zhen as a protective umbrella, things will be very convenient for him in the future.

  Shang Zhen looked at Song Zhe Wu and continued: "Hebei Province is now in a state of disrepair, with many officials corrupt and rotten to the core. To achieve anything, these bureaucrats need to be replaced. But for now, we can't touch them because we lack personnel, we don't have that many talented people! So I established the 'North Ping Military and Political School' in Hebei, with the goal of cultivating talent. The first batch will graduate next year, some will be used by the province and the First Division, and the rest will be given priority to you."

  This "Military and Political School" was known to Song Zhe-wu in the previous life's forum. When the military school was first established, the CCP sent Gu Xiong-yi to infiltrate the school, serving as a district team leader, and quickly developed a batch of party members within the school. As for who specifically developed those people, Song Zhe-wu couldn't remember clearly, only recalling that one person was highly valued by Shang Zhen. Although he had long known that this person was a CCP member, he still continued to use him as his deputy officer until 1940 when Shang Zhen was transferred to be the commander-in-chief of the Sixth War Zone and was forced to protect him from leaving. Now, Shang Zhen wanted to arrange for them to join his troops, indicating that Shang Zhen still had some reservations about himself. In fact, Song Zhe-wu did not reject these people; on the contrary, he welcomed them very much. Those who could enter the Military and Political School were all educated people, which was exactly what his troops lacked.

  At present, an unequivocal statement is extremely welcome for military schools and the more the better.

  Shang Zhen had been observing Song Zhe Wu's reaction to the military school students coming to his unit, and saw that Song Zhe Wu agreed without hesitation, and even had a hint of expectation on his face, indicating that he was not dissatisfied with his own methods. Without saying anything, he just nodded. He turned to Liu Pei and said: "Old brother Gu, trouble you to call Vice Officer Wang over." Liu Pei went out for a short while, and brought in a young lieutenant in his early twenties.

  The newcomer saluted Shang Zhen and Song Zhewu, then stood aside. Shang Zhen got up and said to Song Zhewu: "Wen Ge, this is my newly promoted deputy officer from the Military and Political School, a graduate of Yan University, who has been to Lu Xiao before and has a military background, very talented, Wang Xinggang, Deputy Officer Wang. Your troops are expanding too quickly, there's more work to be done than here, so let Deputy Officer Wang go to your place."

  This is too obvious, Song Zhe Wu thought to himself. Suddenly, Song Zhe Wu's heart moved and he remembered that Wang Xing Gang was one of the first batch of party members developed by Gu Xiong, and had always been Shang Zhen's deputy officer. Now it won't be difficult to find someone to contact on that side.

  "Welcome Vice Officer Wang to the Security Regiment." He also asked for instructions from Shang Zhen: "The high and low combat effectiveness of a unit is closely related to the ideological education of the unit. The party representative system during the Northern Expedition was very effective. I have always wanted to establish a political training department in the unit, but unfortunately, there is no one responsible. Chairman, what do you think about letting Vice Officer Wang take charge?"

  Shang Zhen patted Song Zhe Wu's shoulder and said with a smile: "It's your man now, you're in charge." He glanced at his watch on his wrist. "Wen Ge, you were originally scheduled to depart at 9 o'clock sharp. I've delayed your time. You can set off now. As for those four supplementary battalions, I'll arrange for someone to send them to Laiyuan when I return to Beiping. You must lead the troops well, or else I won't forgive you."

  Song Zhe Wu felt that today's conversation with Shang Zhen was not bad, and he wanted to spend more time. But then again, it's better to stop while you're ahead. So, he stood up straight and bowed "Yes."

  "Deputy officer Chu." Chu Feng walked in quickly. "Tell Battalion Commander Ye that the troops are waiting for the train and preparing to depart."

  Chu Feng replied and then reported to Song Zhe Wu, "Geitz is here, he's waiting outside."

  "Alright, come on in, I was just looking for him." Shang Zhen was in high spirits today.

  Xiao Gezi quickly came in, first greeting Shang Zhen, and the two seemed very familiar. Shang Zhen asked Xiao Gezi with a smile, "You can't give all your good things to this old classmate of yours, I want some too, you have to give me some today."

  Gates also smiled and said: "My respected President, giving this to my fellow student is just like giving it to you."

  "Well said, not bad. What's good for Weng Ge is also good for me. Let's settle the delivery with the chief of staff later, let's send Weng Ge off first."

  "You can take the goods, but don't bother settling the payment." "Why?" Merchant Chen was somewhat perplexed.

  "You think he's just some rich subordinate, but he's already paid me."

  Shang Zhen opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't speak. For this batch of German weapons, he had managed to scrape together 800,000 dollars from all sides. He couldn't give his subordinates more military pay, and now he was going to take back such a large sum of money.

  Liu Pei saw that Shang Zhen was somewhat embarrassed, and pulled Song Zhe Wu's hand, laughing: "As Mr. Gates said, what belongs to Wengu is ours, and what belongs to us also belongs to Wengu."

  Liu Pei said one sentence and everyone laughed. Shang Zhen said: "Alright, Wen Ge, let's set off."

  When the crowd came out, the guard camp had already formed a column and was waiting to depart. Liu Pei held Song Zhe Wu's hand and reminded him of a few things before, under Shang Zhen's urging, Song Zhe Wu took over the reins handed over by the guards, mounted his horse, and left with the troops.

  I am a veteran reader of fantasy novels, and I have developed a particular fondness for works set during the Anti-Japanese War and the Republican era over the past two years. Every time I read them, my blood boils with excitement and I feel an inexplicable thrill. Many excellent works have left me mesmerized, re-reading them repeatedly. So, I decided to take a stab at writing my first book, albeit with some trepidation. I sincerely hope that friends who have read this book will kindly point out its shortcomings and deficiencies, as well as offer constructive suggestions. I will carefully consider everyone's opinions and work together with you to make this book even better!

  I hope all book-loving friends will support Deep Blue, add this book to your bookshelf, and don't forget to give one of your three daily recommendation tickets to new authors. Thank you! Wishing all fans of this book success in everything they do!