Chapter 42: Troops Depart for Swatow (First Update)

  Fang Tianxia was released soon after, he looked at his subordinates, and met with them outside the prison cell, they were speechless for a long time. After a while, Fang Tianxia followed Mao Fengzhi's deputy to wash up and rest, everything had been arranged in the room.

  With Fang Tianxi settled, Mao Feng's heart was somewhat delighted. Fang Tianxi was a talent he needed, just as he had said to him earlier. He really did need someone with his skills on his side.

  Mao Feng thought that later on, Old Chiang also reused Dai Li and the Chen brothers, didn't he? This is what's needed! In this special period, there must be a special department! Moreover, the country will need such departments in the future.

  Thinking of the country, Mao Feng's footsteps slowed down involuntarily. He was a bit dazed and couldn't help but ask himself how his future would be. As for what the future held, he knew it all too well!

  He didn't realize he was back in his office until he bumped into the desk, and it wasn't until then that he came to. He knew he had returned to his own office, and he let out a wry smile as he sat down in his chair. He pulled out a cigarette without a filter, lit it slowly, and began to smoke slowly.

  Shantou, at that time, was far from the prosperity of later generations. Shantou only truly developed after becoming an open port. To put it simply, Shantou is now just a small county town, a very ordinary county town. Shantou didn't even have a civil affairs office until ten years into the Republic of China era.

  Swatow is in a very critical geographical location, known as the gateway to South China. Mao Feng had long noticed this point and taking Swatow was extremely crucial for him.

  At this time, Swatow was already separated from Chenghai and belonged to the direct leadership of the Guangdong Provincial Government. However, at this moment, the Guangdong Provincial Government was just an empty shell, as a result of the struggle for control among Sun, Chen, and Lin.

  After receiving the reconnaissance report from Swatow, Mao Feng decisively ordered the third battalion to attack. He gave instructions to Zhao Pingzhou and said: "In the past, one was to quickly pacify the local area, resolutely suppress the resisting factions, cut off the chaos with a quick knife, and win over and divide the neutral factions. Two is to maximize its own strength as much as possible, my requirement is to act within its own capability range!"

  Zhao Pingzhou followed orders and set out, this afternoon the three regiments all departed! Rapidly advancing towards Swatow. Swatow and Chenghai have always been areas contested by Mr. Sun, here the influence of revolutionary ideology is also very widespread, the mass base is also very solid, but the power in Swatow has been held by local landlords and gentry, ordinary people although having a good impression of Mr. Sun, they cannot give up their livelihoods for this, what's most important to them is just living a good life.

  Zhao Pingzhou set out, and Mao Fengzhi also began to ask about the current changes in the war situation. The information he received was that Lin Hu's division had fought three consecutive battles, each of which was a victory, but the last one lost a lot of strength. The second and third divisions flanked and advanced very smoothly.

  Maofeng's brow furrowed, he thought the current situation was a bit strange! The Xuchongzhi department was also too easy to defeat? There must be some trickery involved.

  Yongding County and Wuping County, which are under the jurisdiction of Longyan City in Fujian Province, have been captured by Lin Hu, but the enemy's counterattack will be even more ferocious. What's more, Xu Chongzhi has already gained support from local forces in Fujian! If that's the case, Lin Hu is facing a very difficult situation.

  Mao Feng thought of it and did it, he immediately came to the telegraph room, dictated a telegram to Lin Hu, Mao Feng told Lin Hu to be careful, especially in the face of the enemy army. At present, after capturing two counties, we should stabilize our position and not rush forward!

  The telegram was sent out, but the return telegram did not come back immediately. He waited for a while, still nothing! This made Mao Feng somewhat puzzled, what's going on!

  After another cup of tea, the telegram arrived. Mao Feng hastily picked it up and read it, but what made him disappointed was that Lin Hu did not follow his advice. He thought that now was a time when speed was precious, and if they engaged in a protracted war, it would only be disadvantageous to themselves. In the end, Lin Hu's foundation was not so strong, and he couldn't afford to drag things out over time.

  Mao Feng couldn't help but smile wryly at himself, others can make progress with repeated mistakes, but his own counterattack requires careful consideration, this is the relationship between a weak foundation, and also the contrast between the whole country and the world's powers.

  Maofeng was very clear about the general's temper. Once he made a decision, there would be no room for doubt. Otherwise, the general would get angry and accuse him of shaking the morale of the army! This is not something to be taken lightly!

  Mao Feng could only sigh inwardly and muttered to himself: "I've done all I can! Let fate take its course!"

  Three hours later, Mao Feng received a report from Zhao Pingzhou that they had successfully taken action in Swatow on schedule and were now in control of the Swatow Municipal Government Building, with purging currently underway.

  Mao Fengzhi was very satisfied, Zhao Pingzhou was just fine, he didn't rush for quick success and instant benefits, but instead took a steady and stable approach, first taking control of the city of Shantou, then radiating outward from there! This idea is very consistent with the current strength of the three battalions! As for Mao Fengzhi, Shantou was not that important, what's called "important" is because the strength there is insufficient, regular troops are almost non-existent, just police stations and security teams! Or else it's just a few local landlords organizing their own security forces! This kind of strength is not enough to be worried about for the three battalions.

  Zhao Pingzhou was standing in the office of the person in charge of the Municipal Hall, with Liu Guangyao, the director of the Municipal Hall, by his side. This guy was also transferred from the provincial government, but he was just another mediocre bureaucrat.

  Zhao Pingzhou was dressed in military attire at this moment, and he had a majestic air about him as he surveyed his surroundings. He said, "From now on, Shantou will be under the jurisdiction of Chaozhou, and I will take over the responsibility for maintaining law and order in Shantou City. The Shantou Garrison Command will be established soon, and I will serve as the Commander of the Shantou Garrison. You are familiar with the local people here, so when the time comes, you personally invite the local gentry and celebrities to come over, do you understand?"

  "Yes, I remember, I remember!" Liu Guangyao replied with a bow and a wipe of the sweat on his forehead, he was truly frightened at this moment, his life was in the hands of the person in front of him!

  "Hmm, now you can cooperate with me to comfort the people in the city! If you do well, I can recommend you to Commander Mao, and at that time, I will give you a great future, but you must seize the opportunity!"

  "Yes, yes, definitely, I will definitely make it satisfactory for you!"

  "It's not about satisfying me, it's about satisfying Commander Mao!" Zhao Pingzhou corrected with dissatisfaction.

  "Yes, yes, I will definitely satisfy Commander Mao. But who is this Commander Mao?" Liu Guangyao asked cautiously, he really didn't know who Commander Mao was.

  Zhao Pingzhou's face turned stern as he rebuked, "You scoundrel! How could you not know that Commander Mao is one of Lin Hu's trusted subordinates and the parent official of Chaozhou? I also serve under Commander Mao. You'd better remember this carefully! If you have any discontent in your mind, don't blame me for my bullets not recognizing people!"

  "Yes, yes!" Liu Guangyao became even more flustered, his hand shaking violently as he wiped away sweat.

  Zhao Pingzhou glanced at him disdainfully and said, "Let's go, come with me to visit some famous people in the city!"

  Zhao Pingzhou led his troops to visit the wealthy families in Shantou City one by one, bringing soldiers with loaded guns. This meant something, and everyone knew what it meant. The result was very good, and each family gave Zhao Pingzhou gifts. Zhao Pingzhou didn't care about this at all and accepted everything. He casually disarmed the wealthy families in the city, taking away their weapons. These people were rich and wouldn't have outdated weapons. They were all Mauser rifles, which surprised and delighted Zhao Pingzhou!

  Having tasted the sweetness, Zhao Pingzhou started his action to clean up the local area on the second day. As soon as this news came out, Shantou was shaken all over, and everyone knew what it meant to clean up the local area - those who cooperated were good citizens, and those who didn't cooperate were bandits! This is a blatant use of force to suppress people!

  Zhao Pingzhou was so overbearing, he even hoped someone would resist, and indeed there were, Zhao Pingzhou severely punished several landlords and wealthy merchants, confiscating their money and grain. However, Zhao Pingzhou also gave them some leeway, enough to let these families survive. But for the parties involved, it wasn't that good, they were directly shot dead.

  These landlord old rich tenants and poor farmers are delighted, because these lands have been made public, they directly pay grain to the municipal hall, and the proportion has decreased by 40%, from the original 70% to 30%. This immediately gained the support of this batch of peasants for Zhao Pingzhou! The news spread quickly, in just one day, the news spread all over the countryside. Many landlords are worried, many farmers and civilians are watching closely, thinking that their own landlords will also be like this!

  It wasn't long before the landlords who hadn't visited Zhao Pingzhou before came to his door with thick gifts, and after negotiating with him, they left one by one. Although each of them had a gloomy face, it was not that their vitality was greatly injured, but this was also money! Zhao Pingzhou had just reached their bottom line without crossing it. Although they were unwilling, they could only do so. They had seen what the soldiers of the three battalions looked like - fierce and ferocious!

  Recruiting soldiers, this is what Zhao Pingzhou thought of immediately. Recruiting soldiers here is not comparable to the Chaozhou area. There are many people here, and they have a lot to say. The rural life is already difficult, and with Zhao Pingzhou's recruitment notice clearly stating the treatment, it was very attractive! Soon, many young and strong men filled the recruitment office! As long as they passed, each person could receive two silver dollars as a settlement fee! There was also a monthly military salary to collect, which would be twelve silver dollars in a year! This temptation was enough to attract people!

  Zhao Pingzhou is now smiling, he thinks that after the recruitment ends, this troop will quickly expand to twice its size! However, while feeling pleased, he also thought of a point, these new soldiers need time to grow up, and when they come in, it's necessary to transfer some old soldiers to lead them, which would affect the combat effectiveness of the troops! Although currently there doesn't seem to be any problem, this is only referring to the Chaozhou area! What if Fujian counterattacks or the Yunnan-Guizhou troops attack?