Chapter 4: What Was Heard in Huaxiang

  "I knew you were joking about my brother!" This Hu Guilai is a stout and tall man, neither a returned overseas student nor a graduate of the new-style martial arts academy. He came from the patrol camp and had no academic qualifications, but his military skills were also very poor. However, he had a good family background, being from a large family in Suzhou, and was said to be related to Li Hongzhang. With this background and Hu Guilai's willingness to spend money, he rose through the ranks and became the commander of the 39th battalion. Although he held an official position, he always had a clear understanding of his own abilities and completely delegated military training to his subordinates. He never interfered with anything except for showing off and embezzling public funds. Therefore, Chen Jingyun was slightly surprised when he heard that Hu Guilai went out for inspection.

  Seeing Chen Jingyun's curiosity, Hu Guigao continued: "It's not that those little bastards down there have lost their minds, the whole team's officer and men together sold more than half of the guns, damn it, I didn't even dare to sell so many guns, they actually sold them, this is infuriating, that's why I ran all the way here!"

  "This isn't even a case of the upper beam being straight and the lower beam being crooked!" Chen Jingyun naturally wouldn't say this out loud, and instead immediately burst into laughter: "Come on, let's go in, Commander Tong is still waiting for us!"

  "Right, right, let's get down to business!" Hu Guigao and Chen Jingyun walked into the commander's office together. Hu Guigao also asked Chen Jingyun, "By the way, do you know what this is about? The Commander wouldn't normally summon us all without a good reason."

  Chen Jingyun thought for a moment and said: "Last night, there was an uprising in Wuchang, and the revolutionaries have already occupied Wuchang City!"

  "Revolutionary party!" Hu Guigao listened and burst out laughing: "These revolutionary parties are always looking for trouble, isn't this just asking for it?"

  Chen Jingyun was speechless at Hu Guigao's reaction!

  As soon as they entered the headquarters, someone from the garrison headquarters came forward to greet them: "Have you met Commander Chen and Commander Hu?" The speaker was a third-class staff officer, who led Chen Jingyun and Hu Guihao in while saying: "Commander Lin has already arrived ahead of time!"

  The Lin Tung-tai mentioned by the three staff officers was actually Lin Chao-min, the commander of the 40th Division. He and Chen Jing-yun were classmates at the same period as Lu Shih, but although they were classmates, they didn't have much contact with each other on a daily basis, and could only be considered acquaintances at best!

  It's actually strange to say, but in the current Qing dynasty military circle, students who studied in Japan are a very special group, especially those from the Army Academy have a huge influence. For example, this 10th Division: The chief of staff and commander of the 19th Brigade, Wang Lin, is a second-term student of the Army Academy in Japan, and the commander of the 4th Division, Wang Yuqiao, is his classmate; The commander of the 20th Brigade, Xu Chongzhi, is a third-term student of the Army Academy in Japan, and Jiang Baili, Cai E, Okamura Ningji, Tōyama Mitsuru, Itō Hirobumi, and An Feng are all classmates of the same term; The commander of the 38th Regiment, Chen Jingyun, is a fifth-term student of the Army Academy in Japan, and Lin Zhaomin, commander of the 40th Regiment, is also a fifth-term student. In the 10th Division, two brigade commanders and two regimental commanders are all from the Army Academy! Additionally, several mid-level officers in the artillery battalion, such as Xiao Qibin, are also graduates of Japanese schools.

  Originally, students who returned from studying abroad in Japan were generally only awarded the rank of assistant army commander (approximately equivalent to junior lieutenant), while excellent ones were awarded the rank of deputy army commander (approximately equivalent to captain). However, after the Qing court suffered two consecutive defeats in the Sino-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion, it made a determined effort to establish a new army. At the same time, modern military talents were extremely scarce, which led to the fact that many of the limited number of Japanese-educated officers who returned home were promoted out of turn. Years later, today, among these Japanese-educated military officers, six have become division commanders (division commanders), at least twenty have become brigade commanders (brigade commanders), and there are many regimental commanders (regimental commanders). It is worth noting that if these division commanders, brigade commanders, and regimental commanders were placed in the Republic of China era, they would not be considered top-notch. However, at present, there are only fourteen divisions and eighteen mixed brigades in the late Qing dynasty, with a total of no more than forty-four brigades. The movement of one division or one brigade is enough to affect the national situation.

  It can be said that the warlord wars in the early years of the late Qing and early Republic were basically wars between these classmates. Unfortunately, most of them were fleeting, disappearing after just a few years.

  When Chen Jingyun and Hu Guigao walked into the conference hall, there were already several people sitting inside. After a brief glance and comparison with his memory, Chen Jingyun knew the identities of these people.

  Sitting in the first row was naturally Sun Daoren, the tenth town's garrison commander. Although he wore a new army uniform, his age was relatively advanced and he had a queue, which made him exude a strong old military flavor, vastly different from the other officers present.

  To the left and right of Sun Dao-ren were the Chief of Staff and 19th Brigade Commander Wang Lin, and the 20th Brigade Commander Xu Chongzhi, as well as Lin Zhaomin. Apart from these four people, there were also Chen Jingyun and Hu Guigao. In this way, apart from the 37th Regimental Commander Qin Yuyan who was stationed in Changle, all the high-ranking officers of the 10th Division had arrived.

  After everyone sat down, Sun Dao-ren spoke up: "I suppose you all know about the situation in Wuchang. Although Fujian is far from Wuchang, we can't let our guard down. Apart from preventing the revolutionary army from Wuchang from infiltrating into Fujian, each department must also be on high alert against the local revolutionaries. We can't let Fuzhou follow in the footsteps of Wuchang!"

  As soon as this was said, the people below naturally echoed in agreement, while Chen Jingyun muttered to himself: This remark is probably true for all six of us here except you, Hu Guihao, and Sun Daoren; the others are either revolutionaries or have connections with them.

  Alas, if I had known that I was going to travel through time, I would have brought along the history of the Republic of China and some scientific data, it would be best to bring several hundred gigabytes of information. At that time, whether it's making revolution or enriching the country, wouldn't it be easy? But now, Chen Jingyun only has limited historical memories, and he doesn't know much about the details.

  Speaking of the history of the Republic of China, Chen Jingyun only knows Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren who was assassinated by Yuan Shikai, Zhang Zuolin and his son Zhang Xueliang, and Cai E's concubine Xiaofeng. Even for these people, Chen Jingyun only knows their names. If he really wants to talk about it, he wouldn't know what Chiang Kai-shek was doing during the Xinhai Revolution, or how much money Sun Yat-sen brought back from abroad.

  As for military technology, Chen Jingyun knew the four words "coordinated armor and air power" and understood what was meant by "air superiority", and even more clearly the importance of sea power. However, at this stage, it would be like talking to a fool to expect him to come up with tanks, aircraft carriers, and fighter jets. These three types of weapons can be said to represent the most advanced technology that combines all of human society's resources, and without the support of corresponding basic industries, they cannot be achieved. Not to mention other things, for example, steel - just because you can smelt iron doesn't mean you can make guns and cannons. Ordinary steel can't be used to make guns and cannons; without qualified special steels, alloys, and various materials, even if you copy out the entire design of a tank or aircraft, you still won't be able to produce it.

  A country's military technology depends on the overall level of science and technology in the country, which is the further development of all basic industries such as chemical industry, steel industry, etc.!

  But would a modern ordinary person understand all basic subjects? Would they know the proportions and formulas of various special steels, alloys and special materials?

  No matter if others understand it or not, Chen Jingyun just doesn't get it!

  Just as Chen Jingyun was indulging in wild fancies, Sun Daoren continued to drone on with his usual platitudes, saying nothing but that they had to stabilize the troops below. Chen Jingyun didn't have much heart to listen, but when Sun Daoren mentioned his name, he straightened up and listened carefully.

  "Zihua, bring back the third battalion under your command from Funing. Now there is only one infantry battalion in the provincial capital and I am not at ease!" Sun Daoren stroked his beard and continued: "Director Wang, later give Qin Yuen an order to dispatch another battalion from Longyan County back to the provincial capital!"

  After this arrangement, Sun Daoren looked at the people present and then fixed his gaze on Xu Chongzhi. After a while, he said: "The whole army exercise originally scheduled for half a month later will be postponed! Just make do with a one-mark exercise, Chongzhi, you'll have to work harder, go to Shaowu Prefecture for a trip!"

  As soon as this was said, it made everyone slightly stunned. The Shaowu Prefecture is located in the northwest of Fujian Province, where the 40th Regiment's 2nd Battalion is stationed. That place is not a good place, and there is no first-class army. This exercise is just a joke! If you really want to practice, even if it's not in Fuzhou, you should go to Yanping Prefecture. It borders Fuzhou in the south and Jianning in the north, which is an important military location. The 38th Regiment's 1st Battalion and the 40th Regiment's 1st Battalion are stationed there. If the 2nd Battalion of Shaowu's 40th Regiment is added, this exercise will be more like a real one.

  Sun Dao Ren moved Xu Chong Zhi away at this critical moment, and the intention to guard against Xu Chong Zhi has already been revealed. Only seeing Xu Chong Zhi's face slightly darkened after taking a deep breath, he said: "I understand, I will set off for Zhao Wu next time!"

  Sun Daoren's words, he did not dare to question, let alone oppose. Now at this critical juncture, if one does not listen to military orders, it is clear that they are saying: I am a revolutionary party. Once Sun Daoren becomes thoroughly suspicious, the worst-case scenario would be losing his military position.

  After such a deployment, and another discussion, it was nothing more than a strict order to various departments not to make trouble, etc. Everyone had their own worries in their hearts. Chen Jingyun was thinking about how to get in touch with the revolutionary party, and also thinking about how to start a rebellion.

  As for what others were thinking, it was impossible to know, but in any case, they all looked solemn.

  Seeing everyone crying and looking gloomy, Sun Dao Ren also lost interest in continuing to speak, ordering everyone to go back. However, just as Chen Jing Yun was about to leave, he was stopped by Sun Dao Ren.

  "Zi Hua, I heard that you fell ill a few days ago. These past few days I've been busy too, otherwise I would have gone to your place to pay a visit!" As soon as the door closed, Chen Jingyun was still in a daze when Sun Dao Ren started chatting with him about family matters.

  Chen Jingyun didn't understand, so he could only follow along and say: "Thank you for your concern, sir. As a martial artist, I'm not bothered by this minor cold. A good sweat will get rid of it!"

  "It's also because you're young and in good health, unlike me, this old man. A slight cold can keep me bedridden for many days!" Sun Daoren said as he lifted his hand to signal Chen Jingyun to drink tea: "This tea was sent from our hometown, it's our own spring tea. Tomorrow, come to my place and take a few pounds."

  "How can this be good! This tea was sent from your hometown, traveling thousands of miles, how could I dare to take away something you like!" Although he said so, he still took a sip, and Chen Jingyun, who didn't know much about tea, felt that the tea was clear and fragrant.

  "It doesn't matter, you're not an outsider!" Sun Daoren's words were unexpectedly warm.

  Chen Jingyun was even more bewildered after hearing this, according to his original memory, although he was trusted by Sun Daoren, but not to the extent of being a confidant, how could Sun Daoren say such things to him.

  "Thanks for your kindness!" Chen Jingyun said, not understanding what was going on.

  "Also, come over a bit earlier tomorrow and we can have lunch together!" As he spoke, Sun Daoren seemed to get tongue-tied as well, and took another sip of tea. Before Chen Jingyun could open his mouth, he continued: "Actually, it's just that my wife wants to meet you!"