Chapter Fifteen: Sneaking into the Martial Arts Hall

  "Ah!" Everyone heard that their commander was going to surrender and immediately shouted out in surprise, "Commander! Commander! You..."

  Zhao Xiaofeng looked at their appearance and burst out laughing again. He calmly took a bite of his food and said, "Don't panic, everyone, please listen to me slowly!"

  "Cough! You're all anxious to death! Just speak quickly!" Zhong Batian shouted, none of them had touched their chopsticks, seeing Zhao Xiaofeng's calm and unhurried demeanor, they could only down the wine in their cups.

  Zhao Xiaofeng stood up again, one by one filling their cups, and only then spoke: "Brothers! You may not believe that the Japanese will start invading my Northeast region in September this year, killing my Chinese compatriots?"

  "Believe it!" Ah Lang shouted, he would believe anything Zhao Xiao Feng said, but others were different.

  "Everyone, yesterday someone came here named Nakamura Shintaro."

  "Ah! A Japanese?" Zhong Batian exclaimed in surprise.

  Zhao Xiaofeng nodded and said: "Yes! So everyone must believe what I say!"

  "Commander, you say so! We'll follow you no matter what!" Ah Lang shouted again.

  Zhao Xiaofeng nodded and said: "Everyone, I know that our current strength is no match for the Japanese, so I have chosen a different path."

  "That's not necessary to rely on the national army!" Zhong Ba Tian said regretfully: "I and Hong Shan have recently subdued two groups of bandits, with nearly 200 guns!"

  Zhao Xiaofeng stopped Zhong Batian: "Listen to me first! This time I will choose a batch of the most loyal soldiers to disperse and flee to various key troops, give them seven or eight months, and must win over their comrades-in-arms, publicize the brutality of the Japanese, and mix into squad leaders and platoon leaders!"

  Zhao Xiaofeng took another sip of wine and said, "After September, the Japanese will launch a large-scale attack on my Northeast region. At that time, all soldiers will gather in Shenyang! Because there are many things we want to get there!"

  Zhao Xiaofeng didn't say what it was, but history tells itself that there were the country's largest munitions factory and cannon factory at the time, along with over 950,000 rifles, 2,500 machine guns, over 650 artillery pieces, over 2,300 mortars, over 260 aircraft, as well as warships, and a large quantity of ammunition, equipment, and supplies. Therefore, what he wants to get first is this batch of materials, followed by all sorts of talents.

  "According to the commander's words, are we going to occupy Fengtian by force?" asked Pu Ye.

  "Right!" Zhao Xiao Feng nodded and said: "We can't just hide in the mountains and fight guerrilla warfare, we must go out!"

  "I've heard that the arsenal in Fengtian is extremely rich! If we can get our hands on these supplies, our anti-Japanese army will be able to hold its head high!" said Pu Ye with a drunken tone.

  "And also! Our soldiers must make friends with those special people, such as artillerymen, pilots, communication soldiers, tank soldiers and car soldiers! At that time we will be useful!" Zhao Xiao Feng commanded.

  "Alright!" The mountain cat nodded and said: "I'll take care of this matter."

  "Alright, let's divide the troops that our soldiers need to join. Zhao Xiao Feng spread out the map and said: "The 7th Independent Brigade of the National Army, led by Wang Yi Zhe, is currently stationed in Shenyang. We need to insert most of our forces here. In addition, there are the 12th Independent Brigade led by Zhang Ting Xuan in Jin County; the 20th Independent Brigade led by Chang Jing Wu in Zhengjiatun; the 3rd Cavalry Brigade led by Zhang Shu Sen in Liaotung; the 1st Provincial Defense Brigade led by Yu Zhi Shan in Shancheng Town; the 2nd Provincial Defense Brigade led by Zhang Hai Peng in Taonan; the Public Security General Team led by Huang Xian Sheng in Shenyang; the Logistics Instructional Brigade led by Niu Yuan Feng in Gou Bang Zi; and also the Northeast Air Force, Navy, and the Military Police Command, we need to find ways to send people into all of these!" Zhao Xiao Feng pointed at the map as he spoke.

  General Pu nodded and said, "Commander, your thoughts are thorough! But the air force and navy are really too difficult to enter. I happen to know that there is a Martial Arts Academy in Fengtian, where the students are all elites from various fields. If we can get these talents, we won't be afraid of anything!"

  "Good!" Zhao Xiao Feng praised: "Pu Ye is indeed my strategist! This matter will be arranged by you, and all the young and educated soldiers will be sent inside to study!"

  "Yes!" said Pu Ye, "I heard that it's very relaxed there now, as long as you have money, you can go. You can also study various majors, but the only drawback is that you need to take an exam when enrolling, and only those who pass can enter!"

  "Alright! Money is no problem, you find a way to get things done and make sure to send another batch of people for training!" Zhao Xiaofeng said.

  "Yes! I will definitely try my best!" said Pu Ye with a nod.

  "There's more!" Zhao Xiao Feng pointed at Zhong Ba Tian, "I'm also planning to follow you into Fengtian City this time. You'll temporarily act as the commander of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army, Hong Shan will be the deputy commander, and Pu Ye will be the military advisor. All our people who can infiltrate various units must be sent to Fengtian, but this matter must be kept secret from those under us."

  "Oh! That's right!" Hong Shan said: "Commander! This morning I received a message, the Japanese are furious and want me to go on a trip! Is it related to our base?"

  Zhao Xiaofeng immediately knew that this must be the work of Nakamura Shintaro, and after thinking for a moment, he burst out laughing: "Great, I'll give you another good opportunity, this time you must make an effort to extort them!"

  "What chance?" Hong Shan asked in puzzlement.

  "They want you to send troops to wipe me out!" Zhao Xiao Feng said with a pleased smile.

  "Oh!" Hong Shan almost couldn't believe it, but still nodded and said: "As long as the commander enters Fengtian, I will lead people to occupy this place.

  "Right!" Zhao Xiao Feng said: "This is our base, my friends are still here! You must protect this place and can't make any mistakes. Also, the team needs to continue expanding, but you must be careful of spies, especially when the war starts, you must prepare in advance."

  "Rest assured, Commander!" Zhong Batian said: "On this land of mine, I can tell at a glance who is who! The only thing I don't know is how many men and guns the Commander needs to take away this time?"

  "I didn't bring a single gun, but those who can be taken away must all be taken away. From now on, we will also frequently send people to surrender. All our people will wear the copper Buddha pendant around their necks, just like you used to wear before, so it's easy to distinguish!"

  "Yes!" Zhong Batian immediately nodded and said: "When will the commander set off?"

  "Ah Lang took a hundred men to scatter and join various troops today, saying they were bandits before, but later forced by Hongshan's troops, so they had no choice but to join the army! Just in time to create some momentum for Hongshan!"

  "Alright!" Zhao Xiao Feng said: "Everyone go and prepare, within a week our over 400 people will all enter the military, must let the subordinates know that this time's purpose is to pull in as many National Army soldiers as possible! Best if we can pull those people into our ranks! Each person when departing will be given several large silver coins, once arrived at the city it's also good to go out and have some fun!" Zhao Xiao Feng thought of modern times, everyone arriving at a place would think of going out to have some fun first, whether eating, drinking or playing.

  So, Zhao Xiaofeng changed his name to Zhao Feng and entered the Northeastern University of Politics and Law. Originally, he didn't want to enter the university, but unexpectedly, there were only three people under him who could enter, so he had to change his mind temporarily.

  Everyone knows that Mr. Sun Yat-sen founded the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangdong, but many people do not know that there is also such a school in Northeast China, which was established earlier than the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangdong, and it is the Northeastern Military Academy.

  The Northeast China Lecture Martial Hall was originally called the East Three Provinces Lecture Martial Hall. Its east side is Dongling, and its southeast side is Jinjia Village. The original name of this place was Dongshan Zui Zi. During Zhang Xueliang's reign, it was renamed Northeast Lecture Martial Hall. As a military academy for the Fengtian clique, most high- and mid-level officers in the Fengtian army received training here. It played an important role in improving the combat effectiveness of the Fengtian Army and promoting the formation and development of the Fengtian warlord regime. In China's military school history, it is also very famous, along with Yunnan Lecture Martial Hall, Baoding Military Academy, and later Whampoa Military Academy, which are considered the four major military academies in China at that time.

  At the end of 1918, Zhang Zuolin was appointed as the inspector general of the three eastern provinces. In order to further dominate the northeast, he expanded his army on a large scale. To solve the problem of insufficient military officers, he held eight training sessions at the Lecture Martial Hall.

  In October 1922, Zhang Xueliang concurrently served as the head of the hall, and the training objects were mainly junior officers in service from various units of the Feng Army, with 400 people per session, and a one-year term. The study content was divided into two major parts: academic subjects and technical subjects. Academic subjects included two items: one was the six major courses (tactics, weapons, geography, fortification, transportation, military system), and the other was the standard orders (various army manuals, shooting instructions, array duties, communication instructions, internal affairs rules, etc.) , as well as horse riding, hygiene, etc. Technical subjects included drill training, field exercises, technical gymnastics, fencing, horsemanship, etc. The instructors were from domestic military academies and returned officers who had studied in Japan, and later added flight and tank teaching.

  At that time, the Lecture Martial Hall was limited in scale and could only recruit more than 400 people each term, which could not meet the actual needs. The ambitious Zhang Zuolin believed that to dominate the world, he must have a strong military force. For this reason, while reorganizing the army and expanding the military on a large scale, he deeply felt the shortage of military talents.

  In March 1928, as the controlled area expanded, Zhang Zuolin was appointed as the Grand Marshal of the Land and Navy after taking office, and the two words "Dongbei" were cancelled, and it was called Lujun Jiangwutang.

  In late January 1931, Zhang Xueliang gathered about 2,300 military officers and soldiers without formal education from various troops to study at the school, divided into three levels: A, B, and C. Level A followed the original teaching plan of the school, while Levels B and C each added an extra semester to supplement their basic knowledge. Zhao Xiaofeng, who was rich in knowledge, was assigned to Class A, while only one of his three subordinates, Zheng Shan, entered Class B, and the other two, Huang Yuehai and Wang Zhengyang, entered Class C.

  The study here is very dull, especially Zhao Xiaofeng, who finds the simple questions asked by these instructors amusing. However, the training is extremely hard, but it's not difficult for him. All the courses he learns immediately, and because of the free learning here, within a week, Zhao Xiaofeng has mastered flying, tank driving, artillery firing, and communication transmission. This immediately caught the attention of Education Director Wang Ruihua. In fact, Zhao Xiaofeng had already been exposed to these things in modern times, he just didn't expect that after historical development up to today, many things hadn't changed much.

  Sunday is the only day off for the Wu Tang lecture hall, Zhao Xiao Feng arrived early at "Yan Bin Lou" in the east of the city, Pu Ye was already waiting here.

  "How is it?" Zhao Xiaofeng asked.

  "Commander!" Pu Ye said in a low voice: "What great joy!"

  "What?" Zhao Xiaofeng's face lit up with a smile as soon as he heard that something good had happened.

  "The Japanese have been fooled!" Pu Ye laughed and continued: "In order to eliminate our forward base as soon as possible, they have now sent all ten sniper rifles and bullets to Yanwang Village!"

  "Good!" Zhao Xiaofeng stood up and walked two steps, laughing: "Is there anything else?"

  "Haha! Commander understands Hongshan after all!" Pu Ye stroked his short beard and said: "Hongshan can't be so easily defeated by the little Japanese, this time Hongshan asked for 1,000 hand grenades, 5 mortars! 1,000 taels of gold! Now we're rich!" Pu Ye was almost jumping with excitement.

  "Alright! Very good, but those little Japanese have spent a lot of blood to destroy our forward base. What's the reason for this?"

  "It's because Commander killed twenty or thirty devils at Shili Slope!" Old Man Pu said with a smile.

  "It shouldn't be!" Zhao Xiao Feng thought it was possible, but he didn't dare to confirm, so he instructed: "You must figure out the enemy's intentions and find a way to contact people in each unit, urging them to quickly grasp the initiative in the army. If at a critical moment, you must think of ways to provide assistance to them, whether it's financial or military! Do you understand?"

  "Yes! Commander! I will definitely help our people seize military power by any means!" Pu Ye said with a confident smile, patting his chest.