Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 9: Situation

  History deviated slightly at the end of 1924, in another time and space after Sun Yat-sen went north, Tan Yancai took over as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army, continuing to march north. Later, he failed in the Battle of Ganzhou and was entangled with the Jiangxi army in southern Jiangxi before the Eastern Expedition. Another branch of the army that set out slightly earlier created a miracle: Fan Zhongxiu led 7,000 Henan troops, marching across five provinces, fighting over 2,000 miles, killing their way through the enemy lines, and finally reaching southern Henan. However, in this time and space, history changed its course.

  After the defeat of the Merchant Corps, Sun Yat-sen deployed troops in Guangzhou to attack Chen Jiongming's forces in the east, but before they could be implemented, he went north. Tan Yancai's Jiangxi army stayed in Shaoguan, taking a defensive stance against Jiangxi, but Fan Zhongxiu led his army northward as if in another space and time.

  Fan Zhongxiu and Yu Jun are all from Henan, they miss their hometown deeply, and do not understand the suspension of the Northern Expedition. The morale of the army is shaken, and Fan Zhongxiu has no choice but to ask Sun Yat-sen for a solo Northern Expedition. Naturally, this was opposed by the military and political officials in Guangzhou. Sun Yat-sen then promised Fan Zhongxiu that he would eliminate Chen Jiongming within a year and then go north. Unexpectedly, before Sun Yat-sen went north, Fan Zhongxiu came again to ask for permission to go north, and proposed that the Premier should go to Beijing, without a reliable army by his side it was not feasible. He himself was in Henan, once there were changes in Beijing, he could arrive immediately. Only then did Sun Yat-sen agree to Fan Zhongxiu going north.

  Sun Yat-sen's change of decision, Tan Yan-kai's stay in Shaoguan and Fan Zhong-xiu's northward journey affected the wandering Sichuan Army's Xiong Ke-wu and Dongjiang Chen Jiong-ming, which in turn affected the First Eastern Expedition. We'll talk about these things later, let's first talk about Xiong Ke-wu.

  Xiong Kewu was a Sichuan native and an old member of the Tongmenghui, who participated in the Guangzhou Uprising and organized the Shu Military Government during the Xinhai Revolution. He later joined the Second Revolution and after its failure, he fled to safety. During the National Protection War, he served under Cai E's command and then formed the 5th Division of the Sichuan Army. He participated in the warlord battles in Sichuan and in 1918, Sun Yat-sen appointed Xiong Kewu as the Military Governor of Sichuan and Yang Shuzhao as the Provincial Governor. However, due to conflicts between Xiong and Yang, Xiong Kewu was dissatisfied with Sun's appointment of Yang as governor and turned towards provincial autonomy. Sun Yat-sen once sent Chiang Kai-shek to Sichuan, but he was intercepted by Xiong Kewu's men at Kui Gate. With the support of Secretary-General Xie Chi of the Guangzhou Generalissimo's Office, Yang Shuzhao joined forces with Stone Qingyang and Lü Chao of the Nationalist Party faction in the Sichuan Army to overthrow Xiong Kewu. Xiong Kewu then formed an alliance with Liu Xiang and Liu Cunhou of the Sichuan Army to resist. In this war, Xiong Kewu initially lost but later won, ultimately driving out all other Nationalist Party factions from Sichuan. Later, Xiong Kewu clashed with Liu Xiang again, and this time he was defeated, fleeing Sichuan with his troops to the border of Yunnan and Guizhou. Tang Jiyao also had a grudge against Xiong Kewu and sent heavy troops to monitor his forces. In desperation, Xiong Kewu sent Dan Xin to Guangzhou in hopes of participating in the Northern Expedition and bringing his troops to the Hunan-Guizhou border. Sun Yat-sen expressed welcome but told Dan Xin that he was not planning a northern expedition in the short term and asked Xiong Kewu to bring his army to Guangzhou instead. Later, Dan Xin followed Sun Yat-sen on his northern journey.

  Xiong Kewu hesitated after receiving Dan Xin's letter and did not start leading his army to Guangdong until the beginning of 1925. However, this delay meant that he was unable to participate in the First Eastern Campaign and the suppression of the Guangzhou Uprising, which became one of the major crimes fabricated by Zhuang Jihua against him.

  Let's talk about Chen Jiongming again. After retreating to East River, Chen Jiongming always thought of returning to Guangzhou. In 1923, Chen Jiongming once launched a counterattack and fought his way to the outskirts of Guangzhou, but was repelled by Fan Zhongxiu's Yu army, with three main force divisions defeated. To this day, Chen's officers and soldiers still have a lingering fear of Fan's Yu army. When Shangtuan Chen Lianbo came to contact him, he was still hesitant. Now that Sun Zhongshan has gone north, the most powerful Fan Zhongxiu's Yu army has also gone north, which gave him some confidence. So he returned from Hong Kong to Huizhou and prepared to march west back to Guangzhou.

  The former action Zhuang Jihua did not know, the latter Zhuang Jihua learned from the newspaper. He didn't know when the Eastern Expedition would start exactly, but from these reports, he felt that the Eastern Expedition was about to begin. Since he asked his ten questions, Yu Saodu had never come to find him, and although "Soldier's Friend" continued to criticize him, it had lowered its tone by eight degrees, and there were no more articles by Yu Saodu. However, Zhuang Jihua didn't have the energy to worry about these things for now, as he was going to participate in the graduation exercise.

  "The enemy has occupied the area from Skinny Dog Ridge to Stone Tablet, and advanced to the vicinity of Stone Dragon. Our mission is to counterattack the enemy and retake Skinny Dog Ridge." After a serious briefing on the enemy situation, he looked at the platoon leaders seated below and said: "This is your last exercise in military school and also your graduation exercise. Although I am in command, the principal has instructed that all actions will be carried out by you, and I will only be responsible for commanding and coordinating. The directing department is located in Beidi Temple in Zhucun, and the evaluation team members and coordinators will follow each small team to take action. You discuss the action plan and submit it to me for approval before reporting to the directing department."

  As soon as these words were spoken, the deputy commanders below, including Jiang Xianyun, Hu Zongnan, Huang Wei, Xu Jishen, Chen Gang and Fan Hanjie, became extremely excited. To be sure, in previous exercises, the plans had been drawn up by higher authorities and they merely carried them out. This time, however, they were almost entirely their own masters, the only reason it was "almost" being that the plans they put forward had to go through a rigorous approval process.

  "How many enemies are there in front?" Huang Wei asked.

  "About two battalions, the First and Second Battalions of the Instruction Brigade, a total of about nine hundred men." answered Severely.

  "Who is the commander?" Jiang Xianyun asked again.

  "Commander of the Guidance Team Zhu Tong."

  "Has the enemy already occupied Shilong?"

  "I don't know."

  "What is the enemy's troop deployment?"

  "I don't know."

  Two consecutive unknowns made the crowd's emotions calm down and began to feel that things were a bit tricky. The enemy had nearly 900 troops, which was twice their number. Gaoling Ridge, belonging to the southern foot of Baiyun Mountain, is the highest mountain in the area of several dozen square miles. With inferior forces launching an uphill attack on the superior enemy army, the difficulty can be imagined.

  "Your time is only three days, the starting point is right under our feet at Yuzhuan Battery. If you can't take down Shou gou ling within three days, then you lose."

  Everyone felt a bit at a loss, unclear about the enemy's situation, and no one dared to propose a battle plan.

  "How's everyone doing? Don't be dumb, speak up!" he asked with a serious laugh.

  "Commander-in-Chief, if the director's department can't even provide a plan, that's one thing, but how can they not even provide information about the enemy?" Hu Zongnan complained.

  "I think we should send someone to scout ahead and gather information," suggested Jiang Xianyun.

  "Yes, I'll go." Xu Jishen volunteered.

  "Wen Ge, why aren't you speaking up? This isn't like you." Yan Zhuo knew about Zhuang Ji Hua's recent troubles, but he was a pure soldier and didn't want to intervene in politics; he admired Zhuang Ji Hua and didn't want him to sink.

  "You can't go, I suggest Chen Gong goes." Zhuang Jihua spoke up, although he was currently in trouble, but during the exercise, he still served as the leader of a squad.

  "How can I not be?" Xu Jishen asked back in discontent, and although Zhuang Jihua's ten questions were aimed at Yu Saodu, they also made some Communist Party members feel uncomfortable.

  "Your military habits are too obvious, and your accent still has some Hunan flavor, which is easy to arouse suspicion. I don't want to lose a squad leader at the beginning of the performance." Zhuang Jihua didn't care: "Chen Gong is different, pure Cantonese, and he can play whatever role, a born actor."

  Everyone was amused, and Chen Gong smiled: "Wen Ge, since you knew, why didn't you let me play the leading role at first? Why did you make me dress up as a woman, letting Li Zhilong take advantage of it, and now I still don't know what it's like to be a famous actor."

  "Cut, you're still not cheap, that's the first female lead, don't take the female lead for granted. I'll tell you, be careful or I'll tell Kim Hye-sook about this and she'll come after you."

  "Never mind, never mind, let's just forget I said that." Chen Gong's face turned somewhat pale as he hastily apologized.

  Jin Hui-shu was a student of Guangdong Law and Politics Academy. After the Blood Flower Drama Society performed at the academy, Jin Hui-shu asked Li Zhi-long to transfer to Huangpu to study. Li Zhi-long hesitated for a moment, and immediately he was accused of discriminating against women. The investigation started from Li's ideological roots, and one by one, the accusations were piled on him, scaring him pale. Chen Gong saw this and couldn't bear it, chiming in that whether Huangpu Military Academy accepted female students should be decided by the principal and political commissar. Jin Hui-shu immediately turned her criticism to Chen Gong, while Li Zhi-long ran away with his tail between his legs. After returning to school, Chen Gong scolded Li Zhi-long for not being a good friend. From then on, the members of Blood Flower Drama Society changed their attitude towards Jin Hui-shu and viewed Guangdong Law and Politics Academy as a place to be feared.

  "That won't do, everyone present has heard it," Zhuang Jihua said seriously, but thought of Chen Gong's trick to make him treat others to a meal back then: "You have to show some courtesy."

  Chen Gang's mind turned and he understood: "Good you, Zhuang Wen'ge, you still remember this matter."

  "At first I could lose ten big dollars, that was a quarter of my property, today I have to find some way to get it back." Zhuang Jihua chuckled twice.

  "Pinkeye, petty ghost, typical Gelongtai." Chen Gong cursed.

  "The more you scold me, the better my memory becomes." Zhuang Jihua said with a calm and collected demeanor. Jiang Xianyun smiled and said: "Right, I'll testify for you at that time."

  Hu Zongnan was somewhat inexplicably strange, he didn't know who Jin Huishu was, but the attitude of the three made him extremely dissatisfied. He knocked on the table and said loudly: "This is a pre-war meeting, what are you chatting about?"

  He didn't understand what they were saying at all, but just watching the three of them joking around casually, he couldn't help but admire: this is a great general's talent, others are not like these three.

  Only those who can remain calm in their hearts before a battle can take on important tasks, and only those who have strategies and plans in mind will not be flustered.

  "Don't be in a hurry, Shoushan brother, wait until I and Chen Gong settle the account clearly before talking." Zhuang Jihua said calmly.

  Jiang Xianyun smiled and said: "Chen Gong, say something pleasant for once, is it going to work or not, everyone's waiting."

  Chen Gong said discontentedly: "I just said a word about the heroine, and I didn't mean to look down on the heroine either."

  "That's not what we heard." Zhuang Jihua and Jiang Xianyun exchanged a knowing glance, smiling tacitly.

  "You're going to... fabricate..." Chen Gong's expression was one of sudden realization.

  Haha, Zhuang Jihua and Jiang Xianyun burst out laughing at the same time. Chen Gong's face changed color, and he finally compromised: "Okay, I'll treat you to a meal." Then, with a disgruntled tone, he said: "Be careful during the Cultural Revolution, I will get back at you sooner or later."

  Zhuang Jihua burst out laughing: "I'm being careful, eating is a small matter, don't let it delay the investigation."

  "Go, go! You got a good deal and still want to show off. At worst, you won't get paid for the first month." Chen Gong said with annoyance.

  "That's all right, but where are you planning to go?" asked Jiang Xianyun.

  "Didn't they say that Shibaicheng has been occupied? I'll go to Shigang first and then to Shibaicheng," said Chen Gong.

  "No, it can't be done that way. You can't go straight to Shih Pai from here. Instead, you have to take a detour around the south side through Tan Ts'un, Yu Hui, Yang Ts'un and then back to Shih Pai. On your way back, pay special attention to the military situation at Shih Kang." said Chuang Chi-hua.

  "Have we come too far? Will we make it?" Zheng Dongguo asked.

  "I agree, the security at Shih Pai is definitely very strict, it's probably not possible to go there directly," said Hsu Chi-shen.

  "I also agree, but sending only Chen Gong alone may not be enough. To be on the safe side, let's send two more groups." Hu Zongnan added.

  "Yes, Shoushan big brother is right. Let Chou Xi lead a team to conduct tactical reconnaissance towards the direction of Shi Long, and let Kuo Da Ge lead a team to conduct tactical reconnaissance north of Shi Pai. It's best if we can capture two prisoners." suggested Zhuang Jihua.

  "But this way we've only clarified the situation of the enemy on the stone tablet, what about the deployment of the enemy near Skinny Dog Ridge?"

  "Chen Gengduo led a few people to Yangcun, divided into two routes. One route went to investigate in the direction of Shou Gou Ridge, and the other route walked towards Shi Pai." Jiang Xianyun said after thinking for a moment.

  "Hmm, this is good, saves time." Hu Zongnan nodded.

  "Chen Gang, don't take any risks. The commander's next order is for Chen Gang to head in the direction of Shih Pai." Zhuang Jihua glanced at Chen Gang and saw that he was itching to do something, so he warned him.

  "Alright, I'll give this order." Yan said seriously, he also saw that these few were not good people, grasping others' thoughts with precision.

  "Alright, it's settled then."

  "Agreed."

  "Agreed."

  "So I reported it."