Chapter 40: Exercise (6)

  The staff officer stood up and said: "Commander, you have a broad vision! The Blue Army spent a whole day at the cost of nearly two companies to barely break through the city gate. It seems that we will win this battle with great victory and annihilate the Blue Army within two days!"

  Several others also kept flattering him, at this time a guard ran to Gui Yongqing's ear and whispered a few words.

  Guī Yǒng Qīng's expression froze for a moment, and he hastily adjusted his attire. Facing the few people, he said hurriedly: "Quick, prepare to welcome the honored guest!"

  Several people heard that the leader was coming and hastily tidied up the command center, straightened their uniforms, hoping to be recognized by the leader, which would mean a meteoric rise.

  After a few minutes, a line of people in the distance pointed and chatted about something on that side, slowly walking towards the direction of the Red Army headquarters.

  As the group of people was about to approach, Gui Yongqing shouted loudly: "Pay respects!", and several members of the command immediately became solemn in expression, their eyes fixed on the direction of the delegate's seat, paying their respects.

  Chiang Kai-shek looked at Gui Yongqing and smiled: "You're really naive, we were just talking about it, how did your Red Army headquarters end up on this hill? Are you afraid that the young whippersnappers from the Central Military Academy will come and blow your Red Army headquarters away?" The others in the group also burst out laughing.

  He Yingqin said: "It seems that even Rate Zhen has times when he is afraid!"

  Gu Yongqing listened and said with some embarrassment: "Commander, Minister He, General Bai, and several generals, to be honest with you, I put this command post here mainly for the convenience of everyone to see the whole military exercise scene. I believe that with our fortifications and firepower configuration, it is impossible for the Blue Army to attack our Red Army Command Post."

  Principal Jiang looked at Gui Yongqing and said, "What? Now that we're here, aren't you going to invite us in for a chat?"

  "Your subordinate will go at once, your subordinate will go! Please, sir, please!" Gu Yongqing immediately made a gesture of invitation.

  Several people entered the Red Army headquarters.

  He Shangdao said: "This time's exercise, everyone didn't use heavy firepower, and it was the Central Military Academy's doll soldiers who attacked. You're really good at arithmetic!"

  Gu Yongqing said, "This time the Commissioner is coming to inspect, I want the Commissioner to truly see the strength of the Central Military Academy! Take a look at these little ones, can they be in charge of commanding in the future!"

  Principal Chiang nodded his head in delight: "That's exactly what I wanted! You're so sincere, you've done a great job!"

  Gui Yongqing immediately beamed with joy and stood up straight, saying: "Thank you for your kind words, Lord Wei!"

  Chiang looked at the sand table terrain and said: "How did those young people from the military academy perform?"

  Gu Yong didn't know that the commander-in-chief was actually asking about the battle situation on the surface, but in fact, he wanted to hear some good words from his disciples. So he opened his mouth and said: "This time, although my troops eliminated two companies of the Blue Army today, the command of the Blue Army is still very good. They dug trenches with characteristics, almost destroying the city gate of my army under impossible circumstances!"

  Bai Chongxi came over with interest and said, "Oh? I just saw so many light and heavy machine guns on your city gate, and so many fortifications. How can they break open your city gate without the cover of heavy firepower?"

  Kwei Yung-ching said: "The trenches they dug were also strange, and our firepower coverage was very ineffective. If it weren't for their final strong attack, I estimate that they could have achieved the goal of breaking through the city gate with minimal losses."

  Bai Chongxi frowned and asked in doubt: "Then after they broke open the city gate, didn't they make any move?"

  Gu Yongqing said: "Our scouts went out to scout, their three companies are in the dense forest five miles away, and there is no movement at present!"

  Bai Chongxi said: "Isn't this strange?"

  Principal Chiang looked at Little Zhuge and asked: "Jian Sheng, what's going on?"

  Bai Chongxi said, "Your Excellency, this time the Blue Army is a bit strange. Look, they spent two regiments' worth of troops just to break open the city gate. Since General Gui said earlier that they could break through with minimal losses, why did they still choose to launch a strong attack in the end? Doesn't that render their original plan useless?"

  He Shang laughed and said, "Jian Sheng, you're worrying too much! It's not easy for them to come up with this method, and it's understandable that they got a bit impatient at the end. After all, this is their first real battle, and they've done quite well!"

  "Director Chiang, doesn't he think so?" "I remember they only had five battalions in total? Two battalions just to break open one city gate? And after breaking through, there was no follow-up action at all? If this were a real battle, the enemy would likely repair a new city gate in the shortest time possible. Wouldn't their two battalions have been sacrificed in vain?"

  Bai Chongxi also said: "Your analysis is extremely correct, a good start does not necessarily have a good ending. It seems that the commander has a bit of cleverness but lacks patience!"

  Bai Chongxi's words made Chiang Kai-shek very depressed. As everyone knows, the Central Military Academy is his foundation, and batch after batch of officers are his students, which is also why he can sit stably in the Diaoyutai. He can criticize himself, but when Bai Chongxi says it, Principal Chiang really feels like a fishbone stuck in his throat, unbearable, and his face suddenly turns gloomy.

  The minister saw that things were not going well, and hastily said: "Your Excellency, since they can break open the city gate, there must be some action! It's possible that they will still give Your Excellency a surprise!"

  Principal Chiang's face looked slightly better at this time, saying: "Jingzhi, don't speak for them either. I think this rehearsal is not worth watching!"

  Gu Yongqing saw that the delegate was unhappy and hastily said: "Delegate, this time we mobilized many old soldiers who participated in the Songhu Battle, and our firepower configuration is much better than theirs. We achieved such results, not because they are not capable, but because I occupied the advantageous timing, location and unity!"

  Principal Chiang thought for a moment and said: "Alright, alright, since you're here, let's take a look. Jingzhi, Jian Sheng, how about we wait for an hour before heading back?"

  Bai Chongxi said somewhat uninterestingly: "Everything will be arranged by the Chairman!" Minister He also echoed in agreement.

  It's no wonder that Bai Chongxi lost interest, at first he was a bit interested, but later on he found that the offense lacked continuity and the commander was a bit blind, so he lost interest. It seems like something is missing, but he didn't bother to think about it anymore.

  Principal Jiang had originally planned to come and see the performance of his students, with the intention of reusing a few who did well. But what he saw was this result. Although he also wanted to leave immediately, after all, they were his own students, his own flesh and blood. Deep down, he still hoped for a miracle to happen. Anyway, tonight's task is just to watch the military performance, so it's not too much to wait another hour or two, which would be fair to these students of his.

  He looked at Gu Yongqing with a bit of annoyance, implying that the student of the delegate was beaten up by him and became a laughing stock for everyone, did he still want to get away with it?

  This can't be blamed on Gui Yongqing, at the time when Wei Zuo was about to arrive, Gui Yongqing also wanted to give water to the military school students, but he was afraid of being defeated by a group of baby soldiers, and the reputation of the Central Army would be ruined. After weighing the pros and cons, he thought that letting the military school students show off their skills at the critical point of winning would be a win-win situation. However, things didn't go as planned, and if those student soldiers had taken down the city gate with one blow and then launched an attack, wouldn't it have been a joyful scene? Gui Yongqing didn't dare to resent Director He or Chairman Wei, but he did vent his anger on several military school commanders. Even Zhang Zhong, the Minister of Education, was also hated by him.

  At the same time, on the Blue Army's side, they began to get ready and prepare to set off towards the city below.

  The Red Army scouts retreated quietly after seeing the movement and reported the situation to the command. However, they didn't notice that a few people had slipped into the dense forest at the time of departure, which was not only unnoticed by the Red Army but also ignored by the Blue Army.