Chapter 42: The Turbulent Situation in Guangdong (Part 1)

  The armament of the National Army has always been very tense. As the three divisions of the National Army marched in three directions, they successively obtained many guns from the surrendered and defected Qing army. However, among these newly acquired firearms, there were also complex models, with not many being made in Hanyang, but rather old-fashioned rifles. As a result, even the newly formed infantry regiments could not be equipped with unified Hanyang-made weapons, but had to use a mix of various guns.

  It's actually Chen Jingyun's expansion of the army that was too fast, so that the firearms couldn't keep up with the pace. When the 3rd Division was reorganized into a regiment, Chen Jingyun scoured all the weapons and equipment to unify the three divisions with Hanyang-made guns. Now, except for the 4th Division and the Guard Regiment in Fuzhou, Ma Cheng has incorporated two battalions in Fuding, Li Jimin has incorporated two battalions in Nanping to form the 9th Regiment, and Yuan Fang has also selected two battalions of troops from the surrendered patrol camps in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. These five infantry battalions expanded locally are all composed of former Qing soldiers, who are old soldiers. They can be sent to the battlefield without much training, unlike those newly recruited new soldiers who need to be tempered for a period of time before they can be used.

  So the miscellaneous firearms that were newly captured were basically all equipped on these five regiments, to the point where the newly formed fourth brigade had to wait for a long time, and the planned fifth brigade was even more elusive!

  In terms of heavy weapons, before the arrival of this batch of old German military equipment, there were only six heavy machine guns and eighteen artillery pieces in all of Fujian, so naturally there was not much to divide.

  Now that these military supplies have arrived, Chen Jingyun plans to first pull out the Fourth Brigade. As for the three brigades that have already been divided, they will be dealt with later. He continued: "The brigade commander of the Fourth Brigade has not yet been decided, so you, Chen Kui, will serve as acting brigade commander, and Chen Weihua will serve as acting deputy brigade commander. The position of regimental commander will also be temporarily assumed by each of you!"

  Chen Kui's face, which had been gloomy until then, immediately lit up with joy: "Thank you, Commander!"

  "Don't thank me yet, wait until I finish speaking!" Chen Jingyun didn't respond to him and continued: "The Fourth Regiment will receive three 60mm mountain guns, two heavy machine guns, and two light machine guns. This is mainly for you to set up the framework first, cultivate personnel, and when the next batch of military equipment arrives, we'll equip them fully. If at that time the Fourth Regiment becomes a weak link on the battlefield, I will be held accountable by military law, so don't say I didn't warn you!"

  The latter half of Chen Jingyun's warning was not taken to heart by Chen Kui, and when he heard that his fourth brigade had been equipped with four light and heavy machine guns, he was very satisfied. He knew about the heavy machine guns, but originally the National Army only had six in total, which were divided into three directions, and the first brigade only got two. His own fourth brigade had suddenly received four light and heavy machine guns, and since they were still in the training phase, they would set up the framework first, train the personnel well, and when the next batch of military equipment arrived, there would be people who knew how to use it!

  "Governor, rest assured that if the 4th Brigade has any problems at that time, I, Chen Kui, will take my own life to report to you!" Chen Kui was also a fool, speaking without thinking.

  "Hmph, don't move or you'll learn from the Japanese and take your own life! I won't stand for it!" Chen Jingyun wanted not his life, but the combat strength of the Fourth Brigade!

  After solving the fourth brigade, Chen Jingyun calculated the remaining family property and continued to order Ouyang Tian: "Don't leave anything in your hands, give two light machine guns to each of the three brigades, the second brigade, and the guard regiment; Give the third brigade two heavy machine guns as a supplement; The guard regiment took over three 60mm mountain cannons; Let them train personnel with a small amount of equipment first! As for the remaining eight heavy machine guns, four light machine guns, six 60mm mountain cannons, and six 75mm field cannons, all were given to the First Brigade, allowing the First Brigade to form a full-strength artillery battalion!

  The second, third and fourth regiments, as well as the guard regiment, were equipped with a small number of light and heavy machine guns and mountain cannons. Although the quantity was limited, forming a limited combat effectiveness, but in the early stage, it was mainly to train personnel, so that after having a large number of military equipment later, they could quickly become an army, while putting the main heavy firepower all assigned to the first regiment. Except for Ma Cheng of the first regiment being trusted by Chen Jingyun, more importantly, the first regiment was located in Fuding, only one wall away from Wenzhou. Whether it was expanding into Zhejiang later or resisting the Northern Expedition, the first regiment would be the first to bear the brunt. It is also executing Chen Jingyun's previous military planning, concentrating heavy firepower on the main front line. Currently, northeastern Fujian is the main front line.

  In contrast, Jiangxi in northwest Fujian had already erupted into revolution and was not a threat to Fujian for the time being. The only one left was Xu Jingqing of Jianning who was half-dead. In the southeast, adjacent to Guangdong, many of the new armies within Guangdong province were also inclined towards revolution, and the threat was not great. Chen Jingyun had already begun to plot how to take down Guangdong.

  After dividing up the heavy firearms, the rifles were also divided! As for the remaining batch of handguns, Chen Jingyun didn't plan on leaving them to rust either. He immediately said: "The Ruger pistols will be assigned as sidearms to battalion-level officers and above, that batch of automatic pistols will go to my guard unit, and any leftovers will be given to the security regiment to practice with!"

  The Ruger pistol, a high-end product, is purely a show-off item in Chen Jingyun's eyes. It's suitable for high-ranking military officers, and he'll keep a few for himself. The Mauser C96 automatic pistol issued to the guards is used to protect their own lives.

  After dividing up the military equipment, Ou Yang Tian and Chen Kui as well as Chen Wei Hua also didn't have the face to continue staying, seeing that the sky was about to darken they all returned.

  At this time, Chen Jingyun, who had been busy for a day, finally returned to the backyard of the Governor's Mansion!

  "Back!" As soon as Chen Jingyun came in, Luo Li ran out from inside with a big smile on her face: "I asked Qin Auntie to teach me how to make soup!"

  "Oh, I must try it!" Chen Jingyun stretched out his hand and pulled hers!

  Although it was in the government office, there were still many maids around, and Luo Li felt a bit embarrassed. She wanted to struggle and pull out, but Chen Jingyun held on tight. After struggling slightly, she followed Chen Jingyun.

  After finishing dinner, the two naturally started another battle of the sexes, until Luo Li begged for mercy and said: "Commander, you have something to do tomorrow, so spare me!"

  The next day, November 10th, the Yuan side, which was resting in Zhangzhou, sent a telegram to Chen Jingyun. According to the news fed back by the small troops dispatched by the Third Brigade towards Chaozhou, an uprising broke out in Chaozhou on the evening of the 9th. The current situation is unclear, and the Yuan side dare not make a decision arbitrarily, so they sent a telegram to Chen Jingyun requesting instructions.

  As soon as Chen Jingyun took over the telegram and took a look, he knew that the large-scale uprising in Guangdong should have already begun! He then directly summoned Feng Qin and other staff officers.

  "According to the telegram from General Yuan, and several messages received this morning about the disturbances in Guangdong, I believe that a large-scale uprising has already broken out in Guangdong!" Feng Qin's file contained several telegrams, all of which were related to Guangdong.

  "Who cares about the mess, just advance directly!" The speaker was Chen Kui. Although he had become a brigade commander, he was essentially an unrefined and inexperienced soldier who spoke without thinking. Chen Jingyun let him take charge of the 7th Regiment and then promoted him to Brigade Commander of the 4th Brigade simply because he was his loyal bodyguard. Of course, in order to maintain the combat effectiveness of the 4th Brigade, Chen Jingyun had also promoted Chen Weihua as Deputy Brigade Commander. These two people working together should be able to ensure that nothing goes wrong with the 4th Brigade.

  "Will this sudden invasion affect the unity of our southern provinces?" This was spoken by Lin Zhaomin, who although currently not in power, is still the deputy commander of the National Army and generally attends military meetings.

  "The forces from Guangdong are not to be underestimated, their equipment is far superior to ours. Their 25th Division has a full complement of 54 artillery pieces! If they were to rebel, I fear the 3rd Brigade would be no match for them!" Lin Chengkun also said with furrowed brows.

  To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that the military power of Guangdong was too strong, Chen Jingyun would have ordered the 3rd Brigade to march south into Guangdong long ago, and it wouldn't have ended up like this with only a small force being sent to investigate. The reason why Guangdong Province has not been recovered until now is because the Tongmenghui lost too much power in the last Guangzhou uprising, its backbone was almost completely eliminated, and the 26th Regiment was disbanded, with the remaining troops temporarily reorganized as the 49th Brigade under the jurisdiction of Long Jiguang's 25th Regiment. However, they were suspected by the authorities and sent to suppress bandits outside the provincial capital, so the only forces stationed in Guangzhou are the patrol battalions, which is why Guangdong has not been recovered until now, becoming the only province in the south that still maintains the Qing court's rule.

  Chen Jingyun asked: "Feng Qin, how is the third brigade's rest and reorganization going? Have the two newly formed battalions been militarized?"

  Feng Qin, as the Chief of Staff, understood the situation of each unit better than Chen Jingyun. He immediately said: "Since Yuan Fang's troops arrived in Zhangzhou, they have been resting for three days and are in good condition! The two newly formed battalions were also established according to the precedent set by Ma and Li, who took the backbone from the original units to form new infantry battalions, which resulted in a shortage of the second brigade being supplemented by scattered captured soldiers. They have just begun to take shape, but there is an extreme lack of officers!"

  This method of receiving the surrendered soldiers was first used by Ma Cheng, mainly because he feared that if the surrendered soldiers were organized into a separate unit, they would not be loyal enough. Therefore, the surrendered soldiers were dispersed and supplemented to various units, and then reorganized from the units in batches to form new infantry battalions.

  "Officers are in short supply everywhere, it's all the same!" Chen Jingyun said: "Right, Ma Cheng, take note that due to the shortage of officers, a crash course military school will be set up in Fuzhou to cultivate grassroots officers as the main goal."

  The military school thing Chen Jingyun had thought of doing for a long time, but hadn't had the chance to attend to it recently. Since it was mentioned today, he made a mental note on the spot and let Feng Qin and others plan the charter before making further arrangements.

  "Back to the point, since our revolutionary brothers in Guangdong have risen up to resist the revolution, we can't just stand by and watch!" Chen Jingyun had already abandoned his original plan of steady progress since talking with An Hualin yesterday, and instead chose to expand rapidly within a short period.

  And now the direction is Guangdong!

  Chen Jingyun thought to himself, if the new army in Guangdong is not hostile to him, then taking down Guangdong would be no problem. But the key is that no one can guarantee they won't be hostile to him, so he must act cautiously and stably.

  "Feng Qin, you draft the telegram. From this moment on, two new infantry regiments under the 3rd Brigade will be formed into the 10th Regiment, stationed in Zhangzhou and Xiamen to defend the local area. The 3rd Brigade will immediately head south to Chaozhou! Let him raise the revolutionary flag and try to contact the militia in Guangdong!" After Chen Jingyun gave this order, everyone's face changed color. Feng Qin and others knew what this decision meant - it meant expansion!

  Chen Kui was also excited: "Governor, look, the Qing army in Guangdong is strong, shouldn't we also transfer my 4th brigade over there?"

  Chen Kui's thoughts were clear to Chen Jingyun, who was only concerned about military achievements, fearing that if he slowed down, he would miss the opportunity to fight and gain merit. Chen Jingyun gave him a cold look: "Train the 4th Brigade well, and I'll give you plenty of opportunities to earn military merits in the future!"

  Chen Kui was scolded by Chen Jingyun and didn't dare speak again.

  Chen Jingyun continued: "Since the 9th and 10th regiments have been formed, the two newly established battalions on the Fuding side will also be formed into the 11th regiment! Let them continue to train and recruit, and when they are full with three battalions, they will become a fully manned regiment."

  Prohibiting local recruitment is now very difficult to control, for example, the previous first brigade had casualties and needed to supplement new soldiers when it was impossible to get supplements from Fuzhou in a short time, Chen Jingyun could only allow them to recruit locally. Although there is a risk that subordinates will not be controlled in the future, currently, Chen Jingyun's control over his subordinates is extremely strict, with each of the three brigades having its own trusted generals leading, and after the forces expand and stabilize, they will naturally prohibit local recruitment, and after the military school opens, large numbers of low-level officers will be supplemented, and active-duty officers will be transferred under the name of training, studying for a few months before being transferred to other troops, thus greatly avoiding the risk of troop mutiny.

  Feng Qin had just ordered the telegraph operator to send a telegram to the outside generals when someone brought over a telegram.

  Chen Jingyun didn't look at the content directly, but first glanced at the signature and found it was actually Huang Xing. He took a closer look, and his face slowly lit up with joy.

  "Just in time for a pillow, Huang Keqiang has arrived!"