Chapter 2: Stormy Weather at Huangpu Section 13: Worries

  Run, jump, roll, climb, exerting bravery to the highest level, making the body feel pain, and concentrating the spirit fully. Zhuang Jihua is venting his fears on the training ground, since receiving the order, he has been trapped in that strange circle of changing history that he wove himself, his meager knowledge of history did not tell him that Sun Yat-sen organized two Northern Expeditions, the first Northern Expedition failed due to Chen Jiongming's betrayal, and the second Northern Expedition ended without success after suppressing the merchant group rebellion.

  He always thought that the Northern Expedition was advanced because of his own reasons, so he made a series of inferences, which made him deeply fearful. If the Northern Expedition succeeded, Chiang Kai-shek would not become a dictator, and China's history would completely deviate from its track. What consequences this would bring about, he could not predict. A nameless fear always lingered over him, and on the training ground, he desperately vented his emotions, trying to drive out this fear.

  Sun Yat-sen was very satisfied with the performance and personally met with Zhuang Jihua, Song Xiliang and others who performed outstandingly (Zhuang Jihua has not been normal for some time, and Song's younger brother naturally followed him). In front of Sun Yat-sen, Zhuang Jihua behaved very properly, saluted neatly and answered questions loudly and clearly. However, people who knew him, such as Jiang Xiyun and Song Xiliang, all knew that he had something on his mind, and it was a big deal. Among them, only Jiang Xiyun guessed that it might be related to the Northern Expedition, but no matter how they asked Zhuang Jihua, he remained silent.

  The Grand Marshal's temporary camp was set up in a villa outside Shaoguan City. The villa was not large, and the Huangpu Student Guard team of over 100 people was stationed outside the villa, divided into four teams, with two teams entering the villa to stand guard, and the remaining two teams guarding the front and rear directions of the camp, rotating daily.

  Zhuang Jihua and Jiang Xianyun were promoted to deputy captains of the guard troops before heading north, while Wen Susong was in charge of internal security within the Zhuang, letting them take care of external security.

  Having watched many movies, he was familiar with the tactics of sneaking in. During the day, he mainly checked people entering and leaving the manor, especially strangers, without any slack. Zhuang Jihua also conducted three nighttime attack drills on the manor, so there were sentries both inside and outside the manor. Especially at night, Zhuang Jihua believed that the enemy's best choice was to sneak in under the cover of darkness, so he often personally arranged the nighttime defense, changing the location of the hidden sentries at any time.

  Zhuang Jihua's working method became somewhat rough due to his depressed mood, and the surrounding classmates clearly felt this change. The former Zhuang Jihua who spoke eloquently and was full of philosophical ideas disappeared, turning into a sarcastic and ruthless person who would severely scold others for minor mistakes, and it was only thanks to Jiang Xianyun or Song Xilian's mediation that no major incidents occurred.

  Chuang Chi-hua was frustrated outside the village, while another person, Sun Yat-sen, was frustrated inside the village. The original intention of publishing "A Letter to the People of Guangdong" was to alleviate internal and external pressure and gain popular support for the Northern Expedition. However, this move not only failed to achieve its purpose but also intensified contradictions within and outside the party.

  Communist Party member Tsai Ho-sen publicly criticized him in an article, saying that abandoning Guangdong was a retreat, a concession to the bourgeoisie, and handing over Guangdong to the running dogs of British imperialism. Even Borodin, who supported him, received strong criticism from the Central Committee of the Communist Party, which even reported this attitude to the Far Eastern Bureau of the Comintern.

  Outside the party, opposition to the Northern Expedition was also widespread. Except for Liao Chung-kai, even Chiang Kai-shek, who had supported the suppression of the merchant corps, opposed the Northern Expedition. The various armies delayed their advance or stayed in Guangzhou under various pretexts.

  Although they had agreed to return the confiscated firearms, the merchant corps was dissatisfied with the discrepancy in the number of guns and bullets (some of which had already been given to the Northern Expedition Army) and was brewing a strike. He couldn't understand why these people only saw their own interests and completely disregarded the interests of the nation and the ethnic group. Why didn't anyone understand his sincere efforts?

  At dinner, he simply ate two mouthfuls and put down his bowl. Madame Soong Ching-ling gently persuaded him to eat some more, but he shook his head and quietly refilled her bowl with soup. He gazed tenderly at the woman, who had not had a peaceful day since marrying him, and could have lived a quiet and noble life with her family background, but she had accompanied him without hesitation, living a life of uncertainty and insecurity, and their only child was lost in Chen Jiongming's rebellion, becoming an eternal pain for the couple.

  Soong Ching-ling quickly put down her bowl and gently said to Sun Yat-sen: "Accompany me for a walk."

  Sun Yat-sen nodded, knowing that in fact it was Soong Ching-ling who had accompanied him on a walk, and she would always be so considerate of others.

  Wen Suyan saw the Premier about to go out, and quietly signaled for the guards to follow. He then rushed ahead of him, running to arrange for security along the way, but he ran in the wrong direction.

  Sun Yat-sen and his wife did not leave by the front door, but instead quietly exited from the back door. The exit was a small drying field, where there were originally several stacks of wheat straw, which were moved away after the troops arrived. Beyond the drying field were paddy fields, only now that the autumn harvest had passed, the fields were empty and desolate.

  Strolling along the winding path, the two of them seemed to be in high spirits, slowly approaching the forest. Wei Si Liang immediately stepped forward to remind them that they had already reached the outer perimeter of the restricted area and could not go any further. Sun Yat-sen could only smile apologetically at Soong Ching-ling, who didn't mind at all - this kind of thing had happened many times before, she just wanted to help Sun Yat-sen relax.

  Sun Yat-sen asked, "Is this also a warning zone for Whampoa students?"

  "Yes, sir." The captain of the guard replied.

  "What's going on over there? Let's go take a look."

  Sun Yat-sen meant to take a look at the heart of the enemy, but the guard captain misunderstood and thought Sun Yat-sen wanted to see the sentry. The guard captain had been walking for half a day and felt that something was strange - such a long distance without seeing a single sentry, if investigated, the responsibility for lax security would be hard to escape, and he couldn't help but complain in his heart. This Wen team leader is all talk, saying that unless they launch a strong attack, sneaking in is impossible, now it's not even possible to sneak in, even walking in openly and honestly, probably no one would know, after all, they are just children, doing things carelessly.

  He looked around but didn't see any sentries, so he said, "They're probably at the front gate."

  Sun Yat-sen said: "Oh, then let's go to the front gate and take a look at them."

  At this time, the vanguard said: "Captain Wen and his men have arrived." After noticing that there were no sentries, the captain of the guard signaled for two guards to go ahead. The vanguard happened to see them. The captain turned around and saw Wen Susong, Jiang Xianyun, and Zhuang Jihua hurrying over. The captain rushed forward to greet them and asked in a low voice: "Captain Wen, why aren't there any sentries here? This is too lax."

  Wen Su didn't reply, just smiled and stepped forward to salute Sun Yat-sen, saying: "Premier, this is the outer perimeter of our security zone. If we go further ahead and leave that patch of woods, it will no longer be within our security area. For safety's sake, Premier, please return."

  Sun Yat-sen smiled and said, "You're also reminding me, the guard captain has already reminded me just now." After finishing speaking, he turned around to leave. As he passed by Zhuang Jihua's side, he said, "I remember you, your name is Zhuang Wen'ge, last time during the drill, your performance was excellent."

  Zhuang Jihua met the great man for the second time, still feeling some excitement: "Yes, Premier, we students dare not forget your teachings at any moment." Sun Yat-sen was the premier of the Whampoa Military Academy, so Whampoa schoolmates referred to Sun Yat-sen as Premier and called themselves students.

  Sun Yat-sen nodded and said: "You are Jiang Wushan. I have heard Zhong Kui mention you before, he praised you highly."

  "Yes, that is Commissioner Jiang's kindness, I am ashamed and dare not accept it." This was the first time Jiang Xianyun had faced Sun Yat-sen, his emotions were even more intense than Zhuang Jihua's.

  Sun Yat-sen was very satisfied with the performance of the two, and signaled them to follow behind him. As they walked, Zhuang Jihua asked questions and Jiang Xiyun answered one by one, and soon calmed down.

  Wei Shichang and Wen Suo Song walked behind, Wei Shichang whispered complaints: "Captain Wen, didn't you send a sentry? The defense map you handed over to me had a sentry here."

  Wen Su smiled and said: "It's arranged, not just here, but also in the forest ahead, you just didn't see it."

  "Brother, this is no joke. If something happens, I'm afraid our two heads won't be enough." The captain of the guards said anxiously.

  "What are you whispering about behind me? Speak up." The two men were overheard by Sun Yat-sen while talking in the back.

  Wen Su said with a smile: "The captain of the guard did not see the sentry and thought we had not posted one, I am telling him."

  "Oh, I didn't see either, where did you send them?" Sun Yat-sen looked around, indeed there were no sentries, but he believed that Wen Su-song would not deceive him.

  Wen Su Song turned around and whistled, and three people wearing strange clothes stood up from different distances on the left, right, and back. From a distance, they looked like three piles of grass. The three men stood at attention and walked towards Wen Su Song, who beckoned them to come closer. When they arrived in front of him, Wei Shi Chang finally saw clearly that the three men were wearing strange cloaks covered with grass, straw, and leaves, and on their heads were weird hats also adorned with straw and leaves. He was amazed and asked: "What are you wearing?"

  "This is a camouflage uniform. At first, I didn't think it was anything special, but once you put it on and lie down on the ground, you can't see it from the side unless you walk right by it. Just now they didn't stand up, even if you wanted to find them, it would be very hard, right?"

  Wen Su Song seemed somewhat pleased with himself and continued: "We've also arranged for a mobile sentry in this area, which is meant to be discovered by the enemy and then evade them."

  "Wei Shi Chang found it somewhat strange: 'Wen Team Leader, for the enemy to discover and evade? What does this mean?'"

  The complacency in Wen's heart grew thicker, and the opportunity to show his face in front of the Premier was not common: "This is a psychological problem. For example, if the enemy wants to sneak in, if there are no sentries here, they will definitely feel strange and will not act. Since that's the case, let's arrange a mobile sentry to make them discover it and judge that the vigilance here is slack, and then sneak in boldly. We've calculated that as long as we set up sentries at those three locations on this land, no matter which direction they come from, they can be seen."

  The sentinel walked forward and touched the strange garment, which was actually a net-like thing. After removing the grass and leaves, it was just a net. This kind of net is very common, whether in Shaoguan or Guangzhou, there are sellers everywhere. But after such treatment, it became an excellent camouflage suit, and he couldn't help but praise it highly.

  Sun Yat-sen also walked around the sentry and asked anxiously: "How long will your shift be?"

  "Report to the Premier in four hours."

  "Will you be lying down for four hours?"

  "Yes, Prime Minister."

  "Good job."

  "Report to the Premier, no hardship, defending the Premier is our duty and also our heart's desire."

  Sun Yat-sen smiled with satisfaction. At this moment, he felt that all his efforts for the military academy were worthwhile and not in vain.

  Jiang Xianyun watched Wen Susong's complacent expression with some disdain in her heart. When Zhuang Jihua first proposed this plan, Wen Susong was completely clueless. If it weren't for Zhuang Jihua's repeated insistence and on-the-spot experimentation, the three of them would have spent two hours searching without finding anything, only then did he fully believe. The entire security plan almost entirely came from Zhuang Jihua's hands, now Wen Susong took all the credit with just a few light words. With a glance at the corner of her eye, she saw Zhuang Jihua's calm expression, seemingly listening attentively to Wen Susong's speech, silently praising this was indeed Zhuang Wenge, if it were He Zhanchen he would definitely not be convinced.