Chapter 38: The Principal Wants the Stage

  In the past two days, more and more troops have arrived. In addition to the 11th Division, 14th Division, and 25th Division, all other troops awaiting reorganization have arrived at their designated reorganization stations, and the main officials of each route have also arrived in Lingling.

  "What's going on with these two divisions of the military! They were supposed to be pursuing and eliminating the remaining Red Bandits in Jiangnan, but they're still not here despite being so close!" Tan Xiao was getting angry. After reviewing the files of each division, he still had some expectations for the 11th Division; firstly, the division commander Huang Wei was a well-known historical figure, and secondly, this 11th Division seemed to be a truly powerful and fierce unit that had crawled out of the dead: During the January 28 Incident, the Red Third Army took advantage of the situation to launch an attack on Ganzhou, and the 11th Division, as the main force, performed exceptionally well in the Battle of Ganzhou. In this battle, the Red Army suffered heavy casualties, including the deaths of ten division-level cadres such as Zhang Chennan, political commissar of the 11th Division of the Fourth Red Army, and Ouyang Jian, political commissar of the 37th Regiment of the 13th Division of the Fifth Red Army. Additionally, over 500 people, including Hou Zhongying, commander of the First Division of the Third Red Army, were captured... Later, during the fourth encirclement campaign, the 11th Division was surrounded by the Red Army and fought to the death until only over 800 men broke through, with all officers from the division commander down being wounded! This battered unit, after reorganization and replenishment, actually participated in almost all major battles of encirclement against the Soviet Union, performing exceptionally well.

  Originally, with this army's history of fighting the Red Army, Tan Xiao was emotionally not fond of it. However, after going through a spiritual cleansing at Chenjiawan, Tan Xiao now has a different view: why isn't this a "wolf-like" army? Although it was raised on its own people's flesh and blood, will its bloodthirsty nature become weak-kneed when encountering foreign invaders? As long as it is an iron-blooded army, it is a good army in Tan Xiao's heart! What Tan Xiao now regrets about the 11th Division is that the former commander who led 800 men to break through and escape, Xiang Qian, who was later appointed as the division commander of the New 10th Division, actually died last month during a military relocation due to drowning. What a pity, a fierce general, gone for no reason!

  Tan Xiang was displeased that the 11th and 14th Divisions were not arriving soon, but Gui Yongqing was sweating profusely as he was on a phone call with He Yingqin through a newly installed special military line.

  Guo Yongqing reported to He Yingqin on the performance of various troops after reporting, and said that he had completed the task of helping Tan Xiao with a good show; now including him and He Shaozhou, Guan Linzheng and others have taken the initiative to help Tan Xiao rectify the thoughts of the main officials of various troops, and the current rectification is going smoothly, everyone also obeyed Tan Xiao very much...

  "Honestly, I originally thought that Tan Xiao would be overwhelmed by his seniority and feared that something big would happen, so he let you go down to help him as soon as possible. Unexpectedly... The delegate will go to Lingling soon, and after the delegate leaves, I will also go there. However, at that time, I won't have much to do... By the way, the 11th Division and the 14th Division have a great responsibility in clearing up the remnants of the enemy in Jiangnan, so don't rush them. If it's really unavoidable, just send a telegram directly to the delegate..."

  As soon as He Yingqin said this, Gui Yongqing was drenched in sweat on the spot! He knew too well what He Yingqin meant: it turned out that He Yingqin was worried that Tan Xiao's temper would get him into trouble, and he might even kill one or two newly appointed generals, offending everyone. So he asked him to mediate in between. Now, however, Tan Xiao had already handled all the arriving generals with his military prowess and clever tactics - what need was there for He Yingqin to intervene?! He Yingqin emphasized that he would only arrive after Chiang Kai-shek did, not daring to steal the spotlight from the chairman!

  It is obvious that Chiang Kai-shek let each department go to rectify itself, and the commander-in-chief of the whole army was not there. He just wanted to let his subordinates, a group of old Huangpu veterans, give Tan Xiao a look in the face, and then he would come to help Tan Xiao put on a show. Now that Tan Xiao has settled it himself, is there still room for the chairman to perform? When people do things too well, it's the worst thing. From ancient times to the present, China's political arena is no exception!

  As for He Yingqin's final clarification of his approach, it was actually to keep Chiang Kai-shek's stage intact. Therefore, the 11th and 14th Divisions must not arrive early, and it would be best if they came only after receiving a personal telegram from Chiang himself! As for the 25th Division, due to its distant route, it was fortunate that it could not arrive in time!

  How to tell Tan Xiao? Can't directly analyze the matter to Tan Xiao, can you? Even He Yingqin's expression in the special line is so subtle, without leaving any room for misinterpretation. How could he possibly ask Tan Xiao to leave a stage for performance for the chairman? Absolutely not! At this time, Gui Yongqing was moved by Tan Xiao's selfless and patriotic passion after spending two days with him, slowly opening up his originally sealed heart. He really didn't want to see Tan Xiao being suppressed due to political naivety, after all, only he truly understood how to achieve that "grand blueprint"!

  A general making mistakes in military affairs, even if he loses his troops and land, may not necessarily have serious consequences; but if he makes mistakes in politics, it is a lifetime of no turning back! Think about Cai Tingkai and Jiang Guangnai's frontline command level, how high was it? Surrounded by enemies, they could still withdraw from the battlefield in an orderly manner, and the Japanese army that wanted to devour them couldn't even get a single hair! But if they stood on the wrong side politically, they would never be able to lead troops again for the rest of their lives!

  Tan Xiao may not have made a big mistake yet, but in politics, once you give your leader a "need to be on guard" psychological shadow, it's a time bomb that can explode at any moment! This national military rank adjustment, directly promoting Tan Xiao to the 21st second-level general in the country, isn't He trying to make him a target of public criticism? The more he uses you, the more he will put you in danger, creating countless enemies for you. Without the leader's support, you can't do anything, this is the art of being a leader!

  Gu Yongqing pondered for a long time and finally made up his mind: Ah, brother! I, Gu Yongqing, have never tried helping someone like this in my life! Gu Yongqing planned to report Tan Xiang's situation to Chiang Kai-shek at the right moment. Although doing so might lead to Tan Xiang's resentment as well as that of other straightforward and Tan-admiring generals like Guan Linzheng, and he would be unable to explain himself, there was no other choice but to do it that way.

  Tan Xiao Ke didn't know that others were worried about him and making plans for him, he just focused on military affairs. Now he is thinking about the reorganization of the First Field Army! When Gui Yongqing came, he had already told him about Chiang Kai-shek's decision and the Military Affairs Department: Hunan Province, including the 1st Division of the Wild Army, the 23rd Division, the 63rd Division, the 128th Division, the 11th Reserve Division, the 5th Temporary Division, and the seven regiments of the Taxation Police Corps were all reorganized into the First Field Army!

  He was relatively familiar with these troops: the Fifth Division was actually a general term for the security teams in various parts of Hunan, including his father-in-law Wu Sheng, who was one of the big heads inside; it was the best integrated branch of the military. He knew Li Bifa of the 23rd Division, who had died in battle in Shandong during the early days of the war against Japan and left a 16-character will before his death: "The crime of misleading the country, what's worth regretting about dying? I hope my fellow countrymen will work hard to kill the enemy." He became a banner for resisting Japan at that time and was a very stubborn military man. As for the other division commanders, he wasn't clear what their future would be like. However, including Li Bifa, Tan Xiao felt that they might not be of much use: after all, a general who died in battle only represented his personal integrity, but what about his military level? His style of governing the army? These were all hard to say, and he really didn't want to believe that there were better military officers than those he had trained himself. After all, during the entire war against Japan, there was only one Chinese general who received praise from military experts around the world: "The Eastern Rommel" Sun Liren. Such a talented general wouldn't be everywhere. Now he had already decided in his heart that the three division commanders of his First Field Army would be himself, Sun Liren, and Peng Hanbiao. However, now he was also worried about something: seniority! His own seniority was shallow enough, and although he had made great contributions during the negotiations with Germany and had won Chiang Kai-shek's favor, it wouldn't be a problem to promote him to general. But if he suddenly removed all the original division commanders and replaced them with two regimental commanders, who knew what the consequences would be?

  After thinking for half a day, he gritted his teeth and decided on this. Tan Xiao still didn't believe that the great army would gather, you few small division commanders dare to turn the sky upside down, if there's any unusual movement, just kill them! Killing them wouldn't be much trouble, after all they weren't from the Huangpu faction of the Central Army, at most they had some relationship with He Jian. So he sent someone to call Yang Qing, Wu Sheng, Ji Ping, He Shao Tang, Peng Han Bai, and Sun Li Ren to come to a meeting.

  Sun Liren's garrison was nearby, but not in the camp of the 1st Division, so the first to arrive were a group of old cadres from the original 1st Division. He Shao-t'ang had long known that he would use the 1st Division as the backbone to establish the 1st Army, and for this reason, Ho Ying-chin had even told him that he would arrange for him to sit as the chief of staff of the 1st Division. However, the chief of staff of the 1st Army was not worth fighting for, after all, he was too young and inexperienced. So when they came to discuss the establishment of the 1st Army, he was calm and composed. On the other hand, Peng Han-piao did not expect that such a big thing would also let him participate in the discussion, and he was both nervous and excited: Wasn't he going to sit as the chief of staff or even be promoted to deputy commander of the 1st Division? Now he was the regimental commander, but it was temporary, the 1st Division had not yet established its organization, previously the highest commanding officer was the battalion commander, now it was the regimental commander, and there was only one!

  "I plan to also serve as the commander of the First Division, and the other two main divisions will be led by Han Bo and Sun Liren, who came over two days ago. What do you think?" Tan Xiao asked.

  Thanks to Tan Xiao's influence, Yang Qing and Wu Sheng were both promoted to Major General a week ago in this military rank rectification in April 1935. Tan Xiao, the time-traveler, has greatly changed history, not only becoming a Second-Class General himself but also creating the first female general of the Republic: Rong Hui. And no need to wait for the outbreak of the Pacific War to have a Jiang Yiying.

  Now the two old and young will listen to Tan Xiao's idea with great fanfare, and then look at each other - these two people to be promoted are not from the Old Tan system! Everyone knows Peng Hanbo's level of fighting, and the Old Tan system is trying to figure out a way to get him into their own system through marriage, so he can be considered half one of their own. Who is Sun Liren? The position of this main war general, the old people in the Old Tan system are not interested: every day they see the troops practicing with Japan as the imaginary enemy, and this general will eventually have to go up and fight to the death, how can our family's children go up? Whoever wants to go! However, it is still best if this position falls into the hands of the Old Tan system.

  "What's with this Sun Liren, we're not quite clear about it, can you introduce him?" Ji Ping asked.

  "This Sun Liren had compiled a set of military training manuals, known as the 'Sun's Drill Manual', which was well-written and produced troops that excelled in evaluations far beyond other units. He was also a top-notch commander, having once defended Qi Qin with just one regiment against two Red Bandit divisions, forcing them to retreat without success - what a fierce general!" Tan Xiao introduced.

  This introduction is speechless for everyone: a regiment resisting two divisions? Hmm, this guy can go with Feng Sheng to fight the Japanese...

  "The candidate is capable, I'm worried about the commanders of those several divisions, so I'd like to ask for advice, what can be done to minimize the impact and smoothly let them step down! This is why Tan Xiao came to find them. As old men of the Xiang Army, Wu Sheng, Yang Qing, Ji Ping, etc., all have good connections, now it's time for them to do some PR work. As for He Shaotang, it's just to make him a mouthpiece, to tell his own ideas to He Yingqin, and let him prepare: first, don't push the division commanders to me, second, I'm going to cut off the old men, you have to help me..."

  "Feng Sheng, I won't mention the Fifth Army for now. Whatever reorganization is needed will be done, but it's really not easy to move other units around. Chen Guangzhong of the 63rd Division and Li Bizhen of the 23rd Division have just been promoted to lieutenant general, let alone Chen Quzhen, the 'King of Western Hunan' from the 128th Division... Ji Ping was at a loss for what to do."

  "Actually, Peng Hanbai is only good at leading troops in battle, as for managing the troops and whatnot, he's really not cut out for it, not like me..." Peng Hanbai interrupted, having been listening in on the conversation all along. He was now feeling quite emotional: Tan Xiao actually wanted to recommend him as the commander! The current Peng Hanbai had a strong sense of "a gentleman would rather die than be dishonored", and seeing everyone's difficulties, he voluntarily suggested that he not become the commander after all.

  "Bullshit! I want someone who can fight, and even Uncle Qing can be a general! …" Tan Xiao said with a smile, and suddenly had an idea: Ah, yes, I just want someone who can fight, okay, let's settle on that! So he said: "I think it's settled then, no need to decide on the regimental commander for now, bring all your troops for training, after the training is over, military exercises, the two best ones will be the regimental commanders!" He thought to himself: I really don't believe you old landlords can beat Peng Hanbiao and Sun Liren!

  Just as Tan Xiao shouted out his decision, Sun Liren, who had been ordered to rush over, happened to arrive at the door of the conference room. This sentence was like a bell ringing in his heart!

  Tan Xiao saw Sun Liren arrive, and without seeing outside, he directly invited him to sit down: "Come, Fu Min, these are all the backbone of my Wild One Division... This is the one I mentioned who compiled 'Sun's Drill Manual', what do you think, a talented person, right?"

  Sun Liren was surprised and delighted, now he had guessed that Tan Xiao didn't want to remove him, on the contrary, might even reuse him. After a humble statement, he still sat neatly waiting for Tan Xiao's speech.

  Here is the translation:

  "With the 1st Division as the backbone, I believe most of you have heard about the formation of the 1st Army. Shao Tang has already received the news, and the official military order from the Military Affairs Department will be issued in the next two days. The combined troops include the 23rd Division, 63rd Division, 128th Division, Reserve 11th Division, Temporary 5th Division, and seven regiments of the Taxation Police Corps!" He glanced at Sun Liren, who clearly showed a hint of pain after realizing that the Taxation Police Corps would definitely be incorporated. Tan Xiao continued: "The 1st Army will have only three main divisions, and at most one reserve division or independent brigade. I will concurrently serve as the commander of the 1st Division, leaving only two division commanders. There are too many monks but not enough porridge - who should be the division commander? I plan to recommend Peng Hanbo and Comrade Sun, but whether this can happen depends on yourselves! My plan is for each unit to train separately during the training period, and after the training period, we will conduct military exercises. The two units that perform best will have their commanders appointed as division commanders! ... As for the Taxation Police Corps, since Commander Huang is returning to the 2nd Division, the three deputy commanders have been reassigned, so I suggest selecting one of the seven regimental commanders to represent them in the competition. How about you go?"

  Sun Liren represented the Taxation Police Corps in the competition, and there would be no obstacles: everyone knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, and behind him was Song Ziwen. Now, Sun Liren was convinced that Tan Xiao truly appreciated his military talent and wanted to promote him as a division commander! Was there any other meaning to this? At present, Sun Liren was the person who least wanted to see Tan Xiao and Song Ziwen continue to oppose each other, although he himself thought it unlikely, but he still wanted to improve their relationship. Therefore, when everyone discussed the key positions of the First Army later, Sun Liren made a tentative suggestion: "Commander, as for the position of Chief of Staff, I think there is one person who is suitable for this important task, namely General Wen Yingxing, who has served as the commander-in-chief of my Taxation Police Corps twice..."

  Tan Xiao was just a small class leader in later generations, but for people of this era, they were all famous figures. As for Wen Yingxing, he was completely unknown, but when Sun Liren introduced him as the current director of the National Wounded Soldiers Committee, who had served as the commander of two armies and was one of the first two Chinese people allowed to attend West Point Military Academy, and achieved second place in the military engineering exam, he couldn't help but secretly admire: Who says China has no talent? It's just that factional struggles have buried them! Obviously this person must be a Song-series character, so he was excluded by Chiang Kai-shek. Whatever series you are from, if you have skills, I dare to use you all!

  Sun Li-ren was overjoyed, thinking that Tan Xiang had come to make amends with Song Ziwen. However, he didn't know that Tan Xiang was also thinking about his relationship with Song Ziwen, and what he thought was: Old Chiang can discard even the precious Western-educated talents just because they are associated with Song Ziwen, which shows that offending you, Song Ziwen, is not a big deal...

  After the meeting, Sun Li-ren stayed behind, wanting to make things right with Tan Song. But they didn't see eye-to-eye, both being young and hot-headed, and soon got into an argument. The guards outside tried to intervene but were chased away by Tan Xiang.

  Tan Xiao wanted Sun Liren, not Song Ziwen, so after chasing away the guards, he directly slammed the letter of intent for the large-caliber gun trade negotiated by Kong Xiangxi and the Germans in front of Sun Liren: "Fumin, take a good look at what Kong and Song have done! How many cannons dare to swallow the military pay of an A-type division?! I'm telling you, don't speak on behalf of these corrupt officials and traitors in front of me! If it weren't for the sake of the leader's face, I would have killed them both that day!……"

  Although there was evidence beforehand, Sun Liren still couldn't tolerate Tan Xiaozhi calling Song Ziwen a corrupt official and traitor: "Shut your dirty mouth! Who is the corrupt official and traitor!? Do you know why we had to disband the Tax Police Corps? It's because Ziwen didn't listen to Delegate Zhang's words, letting us all go north to fight against Japan! If I hadn't been intercepted by your principal halfway in Zhengzhou, I would have fought with the real devils long ago... and yet you're still playing this exercise..."

  Tan Xiao didn't know about this, but he figured Sun Liren wouldn't talk nonsense. But when he heard the last sentence: "Still playing exercises here..." Isn't that saying that fighting against Japan is just an act?! Is that okay?!

  "He, Soong Tzu-wen, has embezzled too much and can't spend it all, wants to have some fun, play war! That's why he sent you north..."

  Both were soldiers, and after a few verbal sparring matches that didn't amount to much, they started throwing punches. Sun Liren, who was 1.85 meters tall, had been a basketball star in college, representing the Chinese national team at the Far Eastern Games and winning China's first world championship title in basketball. With his naturally robust physique, he wasn't holding back when he threw a punch that sent Tan Xiao almost tumbling to the ground! Ah, you think I'm going easy on you? Tan Xiao was also furious, although slightly weaker and shorter-armed, but as a drill sergeant in later life, he had been trained to perfection. Enraged, he unleashed his full force with "one move to defeat the enemy"...

  Hao Shaotang was shocked to hear that the instructor of the Guards and the head of the tax police team, Sun, had a fight. He quickly pulled Yang Chengfu, a Tai Chi master who happened to be passing by the building as a martial arts coach for the First Division, to Tan Xiao's office!

  As soon as the door opened, everyone was shocked: the office was in a mess with tables and chairs overturned, papers scattered all over the floor. Tan Xiao, with one eye swollen to the size of a national treasure, was squatting on the ground, frowning and clutching his stomach, pointing at Sun Liren's mouth as he panted heavily, muttering something incomprehensible. Sun Liren, holding his right hand in his left, was also squatting on the ground, one shoe missing, his face pale and unable to speak...

  "Quick...help him set the bone..." Tan Xiao finally managed to speak. At the beginning of the melee, Tan Xiao had taken a beating and found an opportunity to stick close to Sun Liren, using his grappling skills to grab hold of him. Neither of them held back, and unexpectedly, they broke Sun Liren's right arm! The pain was excruciating for Sun Liren, who kicked Tan Xiao in the stomach with one foot, causing them to separate... As they rolled away from each other, panting, everyone finally arrived, witnessing this scene!

  The guards saw that their instructor was badly hurt but had stood up, while the opponent had broken an arm. From the outcome of the battle, it seemed that the instructor "won", so they didn't make things worse for Sun Liren and honestly helped him to his feet and sent him to the infirmary.

  "Hey, Old Sun! If it weren't for your long arms, I wouldn't have been able to reach you and you wouldn't have had to use brute force. Don't agree? Wait till my arm heals and we'll see who's the real deal!"

  "Damn it, you're not even fighting properly, just making a scene and attracting those nosy women. Wait till I'm done with this, then I'll teach you a lesson!"

  The two men finished their fight, and their anger dissipated, but neither of them would give in. They continued to curse each other as they headed to the infirmary together. This caused a commotion at the military headquarters, and within half an hour, almost every department knew that the deputy commander-in-chief and a high-ranking officer from a unit under reorganization had gotten into a fight and were hospitalized.

  Hearing the news, five chatting principals, Guan Linzheng, Gui Yongqing, Song Xihuan, Huang Jie and Wang Jingjiu, rushed to the infirmary together. Thanks to the help of Guan Linzheng, Gui Yongqing, He Shaozhou and others, all the division commanders of the Central Army are now very dedicated to the rectification of the army. Now that they have learned about Tan Xiao and Sun Liren's fight, they are all at a loss. When they arrived at the infirmary, they saw the two men arguing like children, and knew that everything was okay, so they all breathed a sigh of relief. Gui Yongqing was overjoyed! This time, the principal finally has a stage to perform on!

  Author: I've been writing until 2am every day, and I have work during the day, so I'm really exhausted. Recently, I'm not satisfied with these two chapters, my writing skills are gone, and I feel dull too. Hopefully, after the emotional development unfolds later, my state will come back...I apologize very much...