Chapter 6 Regularization of Troops

  Everyone was excited to shout Mr. Zhou! Although Liu had already prepared himself mentally, he still felt a slight sense of loss in his heart, but thinking about the bright future of Huaxia and the Black Flag Army, he let it go.

  Zhou Yu stepped onto the high platform with a heroic air, his expression serious as he took a step forward. Alright! Since General Liu is so heroic, I won't hold back either!

  I hereby declare: the Black Flag Army is abolished and re-designated as the Huaxia Zhongyong Army, with its flag changed to the Five-star Red Flag. This signifies that we will use our blood to build a beautiful future for foreign countries to come and worship our Huaxia. The black 7-star flag will be used as the army's marching order flag.

  In addition, I will teach you a set of military boxing, the purpose of this boxing is to kill an enemy with one move. As he said that, Zhou Yu also demonstrated it on the spot, the military boxing of the later generations.

  After performing the military boxing, Zhou Yu issued an order;

  General Liu Yongfu will become the first brigade commander of our Huaxia Zhongyong Army, and I will create the first navy of our army, named Pacific Fleet. General Liu Yongfu will be the first commander of the Pacific Fleet.

  I am the commander of the Zhongyong Army, please applaud everyone. The playground below responded with thunderous applause.

  Through Liu Yongfu's introduction, Zhou Yu knew that there were many generals on stage;

  Yang Zhe'en, known as the "Multi-talented Star General", Huang Shouzhong and Wu Fengdian, both known as "Fierce Generals", Liu Chengliang, the adopted son of Liu Yongfu, commander of the Black Flag Army's vanguard, and Zhang Long, martial arts instructor.

  Zhou Yu then re-divided the troops and assigned more than 5,000 people to a division, specifically allocated as follows:

  Zhou Yu: The supreme leader of the Huaxia Zhongyong Army and the principal of the upcoming Huangpu Military Academy.

  Liu Yongfu: Commander of the 1st Division

  Yang Zhe'en, Wu Fengdian and Huang Shouzhong were the commanders of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd regiments respectively.

  Zhang Long: Navy Camp Commander. The affiliated troops are mainly engaged in naval training, ship repair and seafaring.

  Liu Chengliang: Commander of the Independent Guard Battalion.

  More than 5,000 people were reorganized, and the battalion commanders, company commanders, platoon leaders, and squad leaders of each regiment would be nominated by the regimental commander, and finally confirmed by Zhou Yu and Liu Yongfu.

  Convert Liu's family gathering hall into a temporary Huangpu Military Academy auditorium.

  Near the village, a planned area was laid out: a power plant was built near the water, and a blast furnace steel mill was established. Behind the mountain slope, a cement factory, a red brick factory, a textile factory, a chemical laboratory, an electronics laboratory, a mechanical laboratory, an engine laboratory, a large machinery factory, and a gun factory were also established.

  However, the conditions are not yet in place, so we will first set up the framework and start working as soon as the machines and personnel arrive.

  Zhou Yu sent the professional books he wrote to Liu Yongfu and others, letting them copy and study one by one. At the same time, he let them train new knowledge while sending people to recruit laborers, technicians, sailors, and Chinese with high salaries at home and abroad.

  The Black Flag Army has been robbing the rich and plundering bandit lairs for years, accumulating US dollars, British pounds, gold, silver and other valuables worth over 1.63 million taels of silver, which was used to heavily bribe Zhou Yuzhen.

  Robbing the rich and raiding the bandits' lair really pays off, should we make a habit of it from now on?!

  However, Zhou Yu didn't hold back either. He took out the money to build a base, purchase experimental equipment, mechanical parts, production materials and pay personnel salaries. Without money, who would work for you?

  If you don't know how to use money, then you won't make money! Some unscrupulous person is making excuses for their own extravagance.

  No matter whether they were workers, soldiers, artisans or craftsmen, the minimum wage was more than 20 taels of silver, which was considered a very high salary in this society, and Zhou Yu also knew.

  But if not, it can't develop rapidly.

  Now Zhou Yu feels a shortage of talent, money and resources, one doesn't know the value of firewood and rice until he runs out!

  The second day was the first military lesson for all commanders of the Zhongyong Army, lectured by Zhou Yu.

  Zhou Yuzheng stood on the simple lectern of the newly established Huangpu Military Academy.

  Facing the numerous brave and loyal army backbone in front of him, he said loudly with great enthusiasm: Good morning, everyone!

  I know that some of you were once heroes of the Greenwood, and some of you have studied in private schools, but the vast majority of you were once ordinary civilians who worked with farm tools to till the land.

  I don't care what you used to do! What bad things you've done in the past!

  However, from now on, you must remember that you are a member of the Zhongyong Army. The so-called Zhongyong Army is to defend the Chinese territory and protect the Chinese people as its mission.

  Be a revolutionary soldier of China with ideals and ambitions, rather than a warlord or bandit.

  Here I have written down for everyone the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention of our troops:

  Three Main Rules of Discipline

  All actions obey orders

  Secondly, don't take a single thread from the masses.

  All spoils of war shall be public property

  Eight Key Points

  Firstly, no hitting or scolding is allowed.

  Secondly, no flirting with women is allowed.

  Third, care for the crops of the masses

  Fourth, prisoners of war must not be maltreated.

  Fifth, after borrowing something from others, remember to return it.

  Sixth, respect the masses' attitude and be kind

  Seventh: If something is damaged, compensation will be made at its full value without any deduction.

  Eighth: The price of buying and selling must be fair, and monopolistic practices are prohibited.

  Everyone must consciously abide by discipline, supervise each other and never violate it. What we should be is the military that the Chinese people admire, not the warlords and soldiers who oppress the Chinese people. If anyone violates this, I will severely punish them without mercy. Got it?

  Remember! Principal! The crowd's depressed response. With so many ugly rules in the army, how can you not be depressed?!

  You will all be the backbone of my Huaxia army, the brave guardians of Huaxia's vast territory. You must remember that it is the fertile land of Huaxia that has nurtured you, and what you should repay them with is your loyalty and dedication, not selfishness and self-interest.

  In the future, when descendants of China open up history books, they will suddenly discover that there were also your national heroes who silently contributed to China. Even if you sacrificed on the battlefield against enemies, you will be remembered like national heroes Zheng Chenggong and Yue Fei for eternity. The Chinese people will forever remember you.

  Do you want to be the national heroes of Huaxia?

  Yes, we are children of the Chinese nation, and we must be heroes of the Chinese nation! This time everyone answered in unison. People of a country that values face, who doesn't hope to make a name for themselves that will last for thousands of years?

  Report to the principal, I have questions to ask! Liu Chengliang stood up with a smile and asked first.

  Go ahead and ask! Zhou Yu's attitude was warm and his tone was friendly.

  Do we have military pay? If so, how much is it?

  You not only have military pay, but also honor. The lowest military pay for your officers and soldiers is fifty taels of white silver, and those with military merit also have rewards and honors.

  If you sacrifice, your family will not only receive a large sum of consolation money, but also in your hometown and the capital of the country, there will be monuments to martyrs built with your name and deeds engraved on them for future generations to admire.

  You will be the pride and heroes of all the people of Huaxia, on the contrary, if you do things that betray your comrades, compatriots or the Huaxia nation, then you will also be infamous for thousands of years and recorded in the annals of the country.

  Yang Zhi stood up and asked:

  Principal, when can we go overthrow the Qing dynasty's rule?

  After overthrowing the Qing government, what kind of government will we establish?

  Good! The fact that you can ask this question proves that you are truly thinking.

  That would have to wait until we had a vast array of talented individuals, possessed a powerful army with giant warships and cannons, had sufficient funds and provisions, and had enough resources for the development of the great land of China.

  By then it will be possible to liberate all Chinese people without bloodshed and overthrow the corrupt Qing dynasty.

  Then everyone raised their own topics of interest, and Zhou Yu answered them one by one.

  At the end of the lecture, Zhou Yu asked them to conduct a general survey of all Chinese in the base.

  Register and record the number of artisans, artists, population, intellectuals, overseas students, weapons and ammunition.

  For those who want to join the army and meet the qualifications, recruit them into the army. For those who do not want to serve in the army, pay their demobilization fee and let them leave the army. For those with other special talents, also give them attention. It is necessary to maintain the purity of the army and the unity of the local people.

  After Zhou Yu left, the military school was filled with soft murmurs of discussion. Zhou Yu smiled with satisfaction, knowing that these officers were all thinking and discussing, and had set their own goals and progressive ideas, his efforts had not been in vain.

  After returning from the military academy, Zhou Yu started preparing to make his own steam engine. Since the production line of steam engines is not sold to individuals in various countries, Zhou Yu decided to take matters into his own hands and be self-sufficient.

  Recently, Zhou Yu used the materials he bought and with the help of skilled workers and blacksmiths who were called out for a general inspection, manufactured a simple single-acting steam engine with a swinging cylinder.

  It mainly consists of cylinder, base, piston, connecting rod mechanism, valve timing gear mechanism, governor and flywheel, etc. The cylinder and base are stationary parts.

  New steam from the boiler, through the main valve and throttle valve into the slide valve chamber, is controlled by the slide valve to alternately enter the left or right side of the cylinder, driving the piston movement.

  After Zhou Yu's tireless efforts, the steam engine was finally built, but Zhou Yu found that the overall efficiency of this steam engine did not exceed 8%, and it also failed to reach the thermal efficiency of the best condensing steam engine.

  He felt increasingly frustrated, with his rich technological knowledge from the future and materials from the 80s, yet he couldn't even make a steam engine as good as one from the 40s. He thought about those who had crossed over with ease, bringing with them massive warships and cannons, as simple as drinking plain water. Why was it so hard for him?

  Alas! No precise machinery! Handmade is just not feasible!

  It's still better to go to Europe and America for a while! Zhou Yu decided to stop temporarily.

  Just as Zhou Yu had made up his mind, his guard Tian Ergou (whom he had requested) came in to tell him that Liu Zong was asking him to go back for a moment.

  Later, Zhou Yuyi had some free time and taught Tian Ergou some knowledge from the future. Now Tian Ergou has made significant progress in all aspects.

  When he and Tian Ergou returned to their room from the laboratory, they found Liu Yongfu chatting with a very refined, about 30 years old, fair-skinned and slightly chubby young man in a very good atmosphere. Zhou Yu estimated that this person was Liu Yongfu's friend.

  Zhou Yu has returned, so Liu Yongfu stood up and smiled as he introduced the two people. Come, come Zhou Jun Chang, let me introduce you. This is my good brother, Huang Da Yun, a martial arts master from Foshan, Guangdong, and his younger brother Huang Fei Hong.

  Dà Yún, my younger brother, is a secret martial arts instructor I hired. He was supposed to arrive on March 2nd to help me out, but he's late and just arrived today. I heard the army commander is skilled in martial arts and wants to spar with you.