Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 25: A Storm Brews (Three)

  "Your time at military school isn't just about learning military techniques, it's more importantly about learning to follow military discipline. What have you learned in these six months..."

  "Are you asking to be dismissed? I'll dismiss you even if you don't ask for it!" Wang Jun's anger was burning in the barracks, and the others quietly slipped away, those who couldn't slip away slowed down their movements, fearing that they would provoke the raging battalion commander and get themselves burned.

  "The principal appreciates you, the political commissar appreciates you, and lets you be the company commander. You're already so proud of yourself, with your tail held high. Later on, if you become a regimental commander or division commander, won't you just turn the world upside down?"

  "If you think I'm not capable of being a platoon leader and can't command you, you can report it to the principal and request a transfer to another company. I won't stop you."

  "Commander, I dare not think that way. At the time, I only thought of using this matter to educate the soldiers. Heaven is my witness, I had no other thoughts." Zhuang Jihua hastily declared, this remark was too serious, knowing that Wang Jun was not only the commander but also a military school instructor, higher than any Huangpu student by one level, which was also advocated in the Huangpu Military Academy. With the terror of the Military Bureau, Dai Li had to be obedient and courteous in front of the Huangpu teachers, especially those from the early days of Huangpu.

  Wang Jun scolded for over thirty minutes, and Zhuang Jihua occasionally responded with a few words of humility and apology. Wang Jun thought that even if he handled Zhuang Jihua this way, it wouldn't work, as Zhuang was the company commander and a highly valued officer by Principal Jiang, so Wang had to think carefully before taking any action against him.

  It's said that Wang Jun had an outburst in the barracks, and Zheng Dongguo didn't even bother to change his uniform, rushing back, but stopping at the door. He listened for a moment to what was going on inside, deciding not to go in yet, waiting until Wang Jun finished venting. In fact, he didn't have many options - military tradition dictates that if you were once someone's superior, they will always show deference to you, no matter how high they rise through the ranks. This is why it was widely reported that during the 1956 promotion ceremony, a general saluted a lieutenant general - because decades ago, the lieutenant general had been the general's squad leader. It doesn't matter if you're a marshal or not, in this regard, military forces around the world are all the same.

  Wang Jun was a instructor at Huangpu and the teacher of these first batch of students, not to mention that in that era, it was emphasized that "one day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father". (By the way, this is a very bad habit, fortunately, through **and education industrialization, we successfully overturned it, but I'm having trouble figuring out whether to find the Ministry of Education or the Administration for Industry and Commerce if I'm not satisfied with the teaching quality, because product quality issues seem to be under the jurisdiction of the Administration for Industry and Commerce.) Just this one point about being a soldier, Zheng Dongguo, as a party representative, had somewhat insufficient confidence when speaking in front of Wang Jun.

  When Wang Jun's anger had almost dissipated, Zheng Dongguo came in to mediate and severely criticized Zhuang Jihua a few words along the lines of what Wang Jun had said. Wang Jun then backed down and let Zhuang Jihua leave, telling him to return to his unit for reflection and await punishment.

  Zhuang Jihua walked away, Wang Jun was also a bit tired, scolding for so long his throat started to smoke, he picked up the cup and wanted to drink water, didn't expect the cup was already empty. He put the cup down heavily, Zheng Dongguo took one look and took over the water bottle, pouring some in for him. This pouring of water also has its rules, you can't pour too much or too little, best is about two-thirds full, if you pour too much, how come I haven't even had a sip of water? If you pour too little, not even giving me water to drink, so two-thirds is just right.

  After handing the water to Wang Jun, Zheng Dongguo smiled and said: "Battalion commander, don't be angry. Wen Ge is like this, when he gets excited, he forgets himself, actually he doesn't have any other thoughts."

  "Who knows what he's thinking about. The principal is also like that, insisting on leaving this company commander with him."

  At first, eleven of the twelve company commanders (including the special operations company, machine gun company and artillery company directly under the division headquarters) were quickly appointed, but the company commander of the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion could not be decided. Wang Jun reported to Wang Boling several times, requesting that the appointment of the 7th Company commander be expedited as soon as possible. However, Wang Boling was also helpless, and Chiang Kai-shek kept dragging his feet and told them not to rush, promising to send a good company commander. It wasn't until Zhuang Jihua reported for duty that Wang Jun realized that this position had been reserved for him. As a result, everyone in the 2nd Regiment knew that Zhuang Jihua's background was very strong, but no one doubted his ability, after all, Zhuang Jihua's achievements were there to see.

  Behind the scenes, strong ability; Zhuang Jihua really wants to turn his face and make trouble for Wang Jun, secretly setting up some obstacles. Wang Jun is probably only left with a humble share, today Zhuang Jihua followed Wang Jun's lead in admitting his mistakes, also giving Wang Jun some face, so Zheng Dongguo was persuaded at once.

  "Everyone knows that the principal appreciates Wen Ge, but Wen Ge has never disappointed the principal either. Instructor, Wen Ge is after all your student, how can he not listen to you? Besides, if his method really works, wouldn't it be a great achievement for our three battalions and also bring honor to you?"

  "Hmph, adding fuel to the fire. Guiting, don't always think about good things, people like Zhuang Wenge are very capable, but they're also especially prone to being arrogant and looking down on others. Small matters are one thing, but if a big disaster occurs, how can you clean up the mess? Isn't the trouble he caused last time an example of this? Even the principal and political commissar couldn't handle it. If he causes trouble in our Third Battalion, can I handle it? Can you handle it?" People like Zhuang Jihua are bound to cause big trouble if they do anything wrong, Wang Jun doesn't have confidence that he can stop him.

  "This... The battalion commander can rest assured that Wen Ge still has a sense of proportion in his heart." Although he said so, Zheng Dongguo's heart was also filled with doubts.

  "Never mind, let the squad leader handle it. But we haven't been to the 7th company for many days, let's go together another day." Wang Jun suddenly remembered that he hadn't been to the 7th company since Zhuang Jihua arrived, which seemed a bit inappropriate.

  "Good."

  Zhuang Jihua walked out of the barracks and wiped the water from his face, returning to normal. The soldiers in the barracks thought this regimental commander was crazy, and the regimental commander scolded him for half a day, but he didn't take it to heart at all, acting as if nothing had happened. In fact, this was Zhuang Jihua's true state of mind. For some reason, Zhuang Jihua was very respectful or cautious towards a few people in the military academy, such as Chiang Kai-shek, Liao Zhongkai, He Yingqin, Zhou Director, and even Professor Ye, who he deliberately kept at arm's length. This also included students like Hu Zongnan, Du Yuming, Guan Linzheng, Chen Geng, etc. As long as he knew their names, he was cautious towards them. However, towards others, such as Regimental Commander Wang Jun and Brigade Commander Wang Boling, he just couldn't muster up any respect or fear; therefore, whatever he wanted to do, he would do it.

  Before returning, Zhuang Jihua went to the eighth company to visit Xu Jishen and other classmates. After meeting, they were very happy to chat, but they were also busy practicing military exercises and didn't have time to talk much. They invited Zhuang Jihua to stay for lunch, but it was still more than two hours before leaving Wuhan. So Zhuang Jihua declined.

  The next day, Wang Jun's report was also handed over to the team leader Wang Boling. Wang Boling took a look and his nose almost turned crooked. Other brigades had not appeared deserters before, but there had never been one like Zhuang Jihua who handled it himself and then acted as if nothing had happened after submitting a report. This was simply disrespect for superiors. Moreover, Wang Boling felt that Zhuang Jihua did not show much respect for him in school. Although Zhuang Jihua's attitude was good every time they met, he could tell from his eyes that he lacked the respect of other students, and even... had a bit of disdain.

  Wang Boling is not Wang Jun, after all, he was a classmate of Chiang Kai-shek's at the Baoding Military Academy and Japan's Shimbu Military Academy. During the Xinhai Revolution, he even played with Chiang Kai-shek for a while as a terrorist. He was also a high-level talent personally dug up by Chiang Kai-shek from Yunnan Wushu Academy, so his report requesting to remove Zhuang Jihua from his position as company commander on the grounds of disrespecting his superiors was sent directly to Chiang Kai-shek.