Chapter Sixteen: The Big Test (Part Two)

  The Big Exam (Part 2)

  Tan Xiang's first impression of Chiang Kai-shek was that he was a "muddy monkey", to the point where later when they met, Chiang would still say to him: You this muddy monkey...

  The early spring of the southern country is always rainy, with a gentle and lingering rain, like a long-separated lover, which moves the sky to tears, and after noon, it starts to drizzle.

  Tan Xiao was on the training ground practicing with his soldiers the technique of sneaking up and taking out sentries. Having just finished demonstrating for the tenth time, he swiftly "killed" the sentry but didn't hear any applause from the crowd. Somewhat puzzled, he turned to look at the soldiers who were supposed to be watching the demonstration, only to see that they had already split into two lines and were standing at attention. A group of high-ranking officers with stars on their shoulders had arrived! The first person in line was none other than Chiang Kai-shek himself!

  Although later literary works all intentionally highlighted his bald head and old age, which didn't quite match the spirited and lean person in front of him, Tan Xiao still immediately recognized him.

  Good heavens! Wasn't it supposed to be Yang Yongtai who was coming? How did Old Chiang himself end up here?! Tan Xixi complained in her heart that He Yingqin didn't give a good warning, but she didn't think about how she herself had been bombarded by Schneider and Krupp's big guns, directly bringing Old Chiang over.

  "Huangpu Ninth Student Tan Xiao has seen the principal!" With a burst of excitement, Tan Xiao's eyes turned red and his voice trembled as he stood at attention, saluting with a loud "Crack".

  Chiang Kai-shek smiled warmly and returned a military salute! Then, Old Chiang directly stretched out his right hand wearing white gloves and patted Tan Xiao's shoulder: "I know you are Tan Fengsheng! My good student! Good soldier!" Then, he slightly turned around to the entourage and said: "Have you seen? This is what a real good soldier looks like! How many division commanders have you seen personally demonstrate for soldiers?! There are many people now who can't do it even if they want to!"

  Everyone accompanied by laughter, Wu Sheng and Ji Ping, who were walking at the end of the team, had unnatural faces: for more than half a day, they couldn't find an opportunity to communicate with Tan Xiao privately. The large group directly arrived at the temporary base of the 23rd Division, and the sentries didn't dare to stop them, nor could they make phone calls. Wu Sheng asked about Tan Xiao's whereabouts, and everyone rushed to the training ground and appeared in front of him!

  Those little soldiers knew that a big shot had arrived, but they didn't think they would see the Chairman. Because of the large portraits and paintings of Chiang Kai-shek in their daily training grounds, many people quickly recognized him. These young soldiers were used to being casual with Tan Xiang, so they weren't too formal. Those who recognized him hadn't waited for the officer's order to salute collectively, but instead began to salute in twos and threes. A bold new recruit even imitated Tan Xiang's voice and shouted: "Lu Xuexin, a second-class soldier of the National Revolutionary Army, salutes the Chairman!" This was something that Chiang Kai-shek had never encountered during his inspections of many troops. Since the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek had gained prestige among many units, but he himself hadn't felt the closeness of those young soldiers like in the Whampoa days for a long time. Today, he first felt a great emotion at the Northern Expedition Hall, and now he felt like he was back in those days again, how exciting!

  "Your superior is a good superior, you are a good soldier!" Chiang Kai-shek returned the salute to this new recruit, then turned around and saluted all the soldiers in a circle! In an instant, he stirred up the emotions of all the soldiers - historical figures are not simple at all! Tan Xiao couldn't help but sigh in admiration!

  Due to Tan Xiaozhang's emphasis on culture, the unit had a good reputation and decent welfare, so many of these new recruits were high school students who enlisted, and even more had finished elementary school, with almost no illiterates. This young soldier named Lu Xuejin had just finished middle school last year and originally wanted to take the military academy exam, but didn't pass due to poor physical fitness. Someone advised him to first serve as a soldier for a year to improve his physique before re-taking the exam. Coincidentally, the 23rd Division was recruiting soldiers at that time, emphasizing culture, so he easily joined the unit. His family sold miscellaneous goods, and he was originally clever and good at reading people's faces and speaking and acting accordingly. Now that he had encountered such an opportunity, how could he let it slip by?! He even followed up on Chiang Kai-shek's words and showed off a bit: "Reporting to the Chairman! Lu Xuejin is a new recruit, not very good yet, but will definitely become better in the future. The division commander said that when serving as a soldier, one must serve as the Chairman's soldier, overthrow the warlords who divide the country, and let the Chinese people live in a peaceful and happy environment, that's what makes a good soldier!"

  Wow! Tan Xiao himself thought he had walked into dog shit luck, how did he recruit such a talented soldier?! After this sentence came out, he couldn't help but treat him like his own brother!

  With just one sentence from this little soldier, Tan Xiao's big exam got a lot of extra points...

  Under the entrustment of Director Tan, Tan Xiaorun ran back to change into a set of dry clothes and began serving as a tour guide for the military camp.

  Although most of the scenery in the military camp had been seen by Chiang Kai-shek in photos, the feeling of being there in person was still fresh and different. Especially the maps, reliefs, and signs on the shadow wall, as well as the directional signs pointing to Moscow and Tokyo at every fork in the road, made visitors feel either excited or deeply thoughtful. The guards in the attendants' room who were holding umbrellas for their superiors had already gotten soaked from head to toe, but these young men seemed even more excited, and unconsciously, the look in their eyes towards Tan Xiao began to fill with respect.

  Time flies, and before I've even finished half of the base, the sky has already started to darken. The sound of the cafeteria's bell can be heard. He Yingqin said: "Oh dear, it's so late? It really slipped my mind, is that the dinner bell?"

  "Yes, General, every day's rest and meal times are fixed in the military camp!"

  "No wonder, it's time to eat, I was just saying how my stomach suddenly got hungry!" He Yingqin is also good at acting, in fact he didn't know about the cafeteria style of the 23rd Division and Tan Xiao's own eating habits, so he just gave him a push and continued to show off.

  Along with the topic, Tan Xiao introduced the army's daily life again, and Chiang Kai-shek also remembered those folded quilts that looked like hard cubes. So everyone went to visit the soldiers' dormitory. To see a unit's military discipline, just look at their dormitory: all the people in the visiting group were stunned by the 23rd Division's dormitory. Among them were students who had studied in England, France, Germany, and Japan, but they had never seen such a neat and orderly soldiers' dormitory! Due to Tan Xiao's "big cannon incident" and "2500 incident", this time there were also two German instructors who insisted on following the team, namely the famous "Father of the German Defense Army" Hans von Seeckt and his assistant and later successor Alexander von Falkenhausen. Seeckt's body was already very poor, and he had been asking to return home for medical treatment. This time, he came with a secret order from the German military department and was very low-key. Tan Xiao didn't have much impression of the German advisors in the National Army, and the only one he remembered was Seeckt's successor - the other person who came this time, Alexander von Falkenhausen.

  At this time, Sekret, who had been shocked by the half-day visit and could not help but say a sentence to Chiang Kai-shek, a sentence that made Tan Xiao laugh for his whole life: This is the troop I have always wanted to build for the leader, and this young man has done better than me!

  Tan Xiao, who didn't understand German, naturally didn't know how much help he had been given by others, and the translator also didn't tell Tan Xiao about this. It wasn't until a year later when the old man passed away that Falkenhausen mentioned this to Tan Xiao, at which point Tan Xiao felt an overwhelming sense of sadness.

  Many soldiers who had finished dinner and returned to the camp began to appear one after another, it was time to leave. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek made another astonishing decision: tonight's dinner in the dining hall will be served according to the usual standard of food for officers and men!

  Those cooks in the cafeteria knew that Chairman Chiang was going to eat their dishes, and they were so excited! In any era, when a humble little person suddenly sees a head of state, no matter how much he complains about this society and government, he will be overwhelmed with excitement for a moment. The current batch of cooks are soldiers who read the manual every day, receiving brainwashing-like indoctrination on loyalty to the government and leaders. Although it's only been two months, the effect is already very obvious: their hands trembling with excitement, their tense and proud expressions... Even the cook in charge burst into tears! These busy and subtle movements are purely spiritual reactions, and they can't be faked. It fell into Chiang Kai-shek's eyes, and now he was convinced of Tan Xiang's loyalty to him and his evaluation in Dai Li's report: This person has a serious personal idolization of the Chairman!

  This is exactly what he wanted. Chiang Kai-shek had always admired the German military model, not only because the German army was truly world-class, but also for a very important reason: what he admired was not just the military, but also the leadership model of an absolute national leader, with the army and the masses surrounding him in loyalty. So when he saw Tan Xiao's 16-character manifesto "One country, one leader, one ideology, one army" in the materials before, he already had a very good impression of Tan Xiao. Today's visit and inspection made him extremely satisfied, and in fact, up to now, this big test in Tan Xiao's eyes, he had long since passed with flying colors! Not only did he pass, but he also scored full marks!

  Today, Tan Xiao's greatest test actually came from himself. In order to show his infinite loyalty, he even used a training method that had never been done well in the future: self-hypnotic suggestion. This military course, specially designed for spies and special forces, was also self-trained by him at the training base, but it had never achieved the desired effect. But today, he succeeded, under extreme tension and excitement, he hypnotized part of his consciousness, making himself a absolute loyal supporter or more precisely: worshiper of Chiang Kai-shek at the time when needed!

  Today, in the category of consciousness, the only person who poses a threat to him is Yang Yongtai, who has been following Chiang Kai-shek silently and wearing black-framed glasses. His piercing eyes hidden behind the glass almost pulled Tan Xiao back from his hypnotic state several times. The reason for this is not that Yang Yongtai has any hostility or suspicion towards Tan Xiao, but rather Tan Xiao himself. After researching, he understood that to gain Yang's trust, he didn't need to put in any effort on him, as long as he could show convincing loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek, then the trust would be obtained. Therefore, he paid special attention to this person's reaction towards him several times and almost lost his mind several times.

  Today, Tan Xiao's greatest gain is that in the future, when facing those famous historical figures, he can also be calm and composed!

  Tomorrow, Chiang Kai-shek will make a comprehensive inspection of the training programs and performance of his troops. Although he has already been briefed on these matters, Chiang still wants to see for himself.

  Tan Xiao, he also knew that his packaging materials had gone up long ago. Tomorrow's viewing was just an opportunity for him to add points, so he relaxed instead. Now he is more concerned about what time to report some cooperation with the UK and France. He doesn't want to report in front of everyone, and he believes Chiang Kai-shek will give him this solo reporting opportunity. Because during such a long time today, Chiang Kai-shek didn't even mention a single word about cannons!

  But he could never have imagined that time would come so quickly: Chiang Kai-shek announced after dinner that he would not return to the old city of Lingling and everyone stayed overnight in the barracks!

  As expected, after everyone had settled down, Tan Xiao, who had been waiting anxiously, decided not to wait any longer. Just as he was about to wash and sleep, the head of the attendants' room, Lin Wei, came to his bedroom to invite him. "Can't you come a bit earlier?" Tan Xiao grumbled in his heart. "You're really good at keeping people waiting!" In order to wait for Chiang Kai-shek's summons, he hadn't even taken a bath and was still wearing that crisp military uniform outside.

  Tan Xiao didn't know that before meeting him, Chiang Kai-shek hadn't been idle either and hadn't even taken a bath. In the past two hours or so, he had separately held small meetings with He Yingqin, Yang Yongtai, Lin Yu and others; then, together with Kong Xiangxi, he had in-depth discussions with two German advisors.

  When He Yingqin walked in to make his report, he found that the people listening were not just Chiang Kai-shek alone, but also Kong Xiangxi, He Yingqin, Yang Yongtai and Lin Yu.

  Tan Xiao made a factual report on the transactions he had separately reached with the British and French, but did not see any particularly excited reactions from the people present, only polite expressions of approval. Tan Xiao found this a bit strange.

  "Soong, have you ever thought why the French would sell Krupp to you at such a low price?" Chiang Kai-shek asked.

  "The students thought that it should be for the purpose of destroying the bartering trade cooperation between our country and Germany!" Tan Xiao answered very calmly.

  "Hmm, you thought of this, great! The French are willing to spend a lot to come before we sign with the Germans, good! Chiang Kai-shek continued: "In order to disrupt the transactions between China and Germany, and to save face for the Germans, the French have really made an effort this time! Feng Sheng, do you know? In order to humiliate the Germans in front of everyone in Lingling, France has urgently loaded 24 Krupp guns from Vietnam onto ships in Qingzhou Bay, and they will probably arrive tomorrow evening!"

  Tan Xiaodai was shocked: How did Chiang Kai-shek know the actions of the French so clearly? He didn't know that after Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi's failed coup and escape to Vietnam, Chiang Kai-shek had already ordered the Military Commission's secret investigation team to set up an organization in Vietnam to monitor and conduct espionage activities. Three years ago, this organization was taken over by the Revival Society's Special Affairs Bureau and greatly strengthened. Due to the large number of Chinese overseas in Vietnam, this organization's underground activities in Vietnam have now reached every corner.

  "This is no small matter, even the British are involved. For the sake of French actions, Britain has also mobilized its colonial officials in Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements, gathering a hundred 6-pounder cannons and transporting them to Qinzhou Bay to meet with the French!" Chiang Kai-shek continued. "What do you think about these developments?"

  Tan Xiao is still thinking about the Strait Colony? Isn't Taiwan in Japanese hands? (Actually, it's the Malacca Strait) When Chiang Kai-shek asked him a question, he immediately reacted: "The student thinks that we can tap on the German bamboo stick but cannot just abandon the Germans!"

  Chiang Kai-shek smiled and looked at Kong Xiangxi, saying: "How's that? See? My student is clever!"

  Kong Xiangxi also laughed and said, "Feng Sheng, before you came, I made a bet with the delegate that you would definitely be pro-British and French and anti-German. It seems that you are indeed a good student of the delegate!"

  Tan Xiao's face turned red: "Actually, students can't think of anything big about it, they just know that these British, French, Americans, Soviets, Germans and Japanese, none of them are truly good for us. Chinese people can only rely on themselves, so we should be cautious with this unexpected help. After all, there's no free lunch in the world."

  "Good, Feng Sheng, it's good that you think so! Just now I discussed this matter with the German advisor and everyone agrees that there is a conspiracy behind it!" Chiang Kai-shek said: "Since that's the case, let them bite each other. Today I exchanged opinions with the Germans and they are willing to consider widening our trade on a barter basis, using our goods as collateral, interest-free loan of 100 million marks to us. Our main purchasing direction will be changed to industrial equipment! As for weapons, they know more clearly which German-made weapons are in British and French hands, they will cooperate with us to release the news, wait for Britain and France to do a losing business!"

  My goodness! The butterfly effect is so powerful! Tan Xiao was shocked: the German loan to China should have been delayed for more than a year, but now... Moreover, the Germans' next move is also quite ruthless: taking tungsten sand while making England and France repeatedly pay in blood! The big shots performing on the international stage are not vegetarian!

  "Principal is too amazing!" Tan Xiao couldn't help but praise sincerely.

  "Right, the wind direction, the principal knows your loyalty to the country and the revolution, but you can't be too consistent with the Central Committee!" As soon as Chiang Kai-shek said this, Tan laughed unexpectedly.

  "Think about it, those big guns of yours are still on contract, if the French don't deliver them to you in the end, aren't they just worthless paper? So I'm thinking that after the first batch of cannons arrives, we'll spread some rumors and say that Tan Fengsheng used this batch of big guns to exchange for a central government that won't pursue your private purchase of military supplies and also allowed you to buy strong troops on your own, and even got an elite division number. But when spreading the rumors in front of Bai, you have to reveal some dissatisfaction with the central government, otherwise it's hard to say when the second batch of cannons will arrive!"

  "This......" Tan Xiao didn't know if this was a trap or an exam.

  "Don't worry, I understand your loyalty to the country! Otherwise, I wouldn't have entrusted this matter to you. You must find a way to get Britain and France to deliver the cannons as soon as possible, it's of utmost importance!"

  Tan Xiao suddenly realized at this moment: it's really true, if the British and French don't deliver the cannons on time, I'll be in trouble too! And it's possible that the French will think they've already achieved their goal of sabotaging Sino-German relations, so why would they still want to deliver the cannons smoothly? After all, this batch of goods is almost as good as giving them away for free, and I'm afraid the French might ask for 30 million francs!

  Then everyone started discussing the coordination of the plan.

  Chiang Kai-shek accepted Tan Xiao's suggestion: the next batch of rifles purchased from Germany would be positioned as standard, and Tan Xiao would find an opportunity to tap into the British P-14 stockpile. The purchase of industrial equipment and technology from Germany would first focus on introducing copper-plated steel production equipment and technology. After Tan Xiao compared the costs of using copper-plated steel and copper bullets and shells, and listed the consumption data of the 23rd Division's recent large-scale training, Chiang Kai-shek had already begun to consider no longer using copper-plated ammunition for the National Army. As for the chemical and smelting base that Tan Xiao had always wanted to build, due to the grand scale of the engineering plan, it was not discussed in detail for the time being, only some preliminary site selection arrangements were made. It was relatively clear that the smelting base would be located in Zhuzhou under Tan Xiao's suggestion, and other details would be discussed next time. Chiang Kai-shek was very busy, and he had to deal with Wu Qizhen tomorrow, and after watching the 23rd Division's training exercises, he would immediately fly to Chongqing to command the battle against the Red Army.

  For the big guns, Krupp L/29 were all transported to Wuhan and handed over to Chen Cheng for sorting out the Central Army Artillery Corps. The six-pound cannons remained in Lingling, expanding the training base, and the Central would also dispatch a batch of untrained artillerymen from various direct units to Lingling under Tan Xiao's unit name for training. Tan Xiao got a number: In order to maintain distance with the Central Army, at Tan Xiao's suggestion, the number was the First Field Division of the National Revolutionary Army; The organization is an enhanced first-class division (one more directly affiliated artillery brigade than the regular first-class division) temporarily under the Hunan Army sequence. At the same time, the expanded Lingling Artillery Training Base was renamed the Hunan Artillery Training Center, nominally under the Hunan Army's organization, and the director of the center was concurrently held by Tan Xiao.

  After the general framework of the big things was basically settled, Chiang Kai-shek gave a wink, and Kong Xiangxi handed over a check to Tan Xiao. Tan Xiao was delighted, thinking that he would finally enjoy the care of silver bullets. Just as he was about to take it, Chiang Kai-shek spoke up: "Fengsheng, this money is not much, just enough for you to pay for the British and French arms. Don't owe them money, especially the British, according to intelligence they really want to clear their inventory, so the faster you pay, the easier it will be to get the guns. Moreover, since the First Division of the Wild Army will be under the Hunan Army sequence in name only, the replenishment will be handled by the Hunan Army, and you will have to bear a lot of training expenses for the Central Army, as well as deal with the British and French, your over 10 million is not enough..."

  My tens of millions? Tan Xiao's mind was shocked! However, thinking that the central government couldn't possibly not know about such a big thing as the nationwide opium ban, he felt relieved. It's just that he didn't expect Chiang Kai-shek to take out a small check and with one sentence, he made himself truly penniless: tens of millions had to support the expenses of feeding and training countless troops, paying for subsequent expenditures from British and French arms dealers, repaying the loan for the British-built cannon factory, oh, and that French regiment on its way... Tan Xiao suddenly felt the taste of bankruptcy overnight. Moreover, the money in his hands wasn't even considered money now, it was all opium! Looks like he had to cash out immediately.

  However, looking on the bright side, this was also what Chiang Kai-shek told him that Tan Xiao would not pursue his opium smuggling and other illegal criminal activities. Tan Xiao now deeply felt that in front of the power of the country, individuals were originally so small - no matter if you are a time-traveler!

  But at this moment he was certain: he had passed his own test!

  The author: The protagonist is too smooth, making people jealous. It's time to give him some hardships, heh heh, next time will be even worse!