Chapter 24: Cao's Precepts
"You really are the Red Army......", Sun Liren, who had been silent and expressionless for days after waking up, finally couldn't help but speak. Since he was only stunned by the shell at that time and his body did not suffer serious injuries, Hu Weidong unceremoniously took him all the way to Pingxiang, which undoubtedly deepened Sun Liren's sense of shame. Although Hu Weidong had been quite polite and even respectful to him, for the proud and arrogant Sun Liren, it was not something that could be easily forgiven.
"It wasn't in the past, but it will be in the future. Whether or not I was a Red Guard, what I said before about 'the officials forcing the people to rebel' is all true." Hu Weidong said calmly.
"It's indeed the case that the government is forcing the people to rebel, but with both sides fighting back and forth, it's our China's vitality that's being damaged! You also said before that the Japanese have unrelenting ambitions and will definitely start another war. What are we going to do when that happens and we're still fighting domestically?" Sun Liren couldn't help but sigh.
"No matter what, it's better than being slaughtered by the Japanese army without resistance. The people have no bloodlust, and relying solely on the military is not enough to defeat the Japanese." Hu Weidong said with a cold smile, but immediately composed himself and said sincerely, "This is also an unavoidable situation, the right to choose lies with the government, not us, but we are already making efforts. The Central Red Army has already opened up a path for the North to resist Japan, and it won't be long before we head north from here too."
Hu Weidong smiled with ill intent, "I've told you such a big thing, do you know what it means? I can give you a trip, to be honest, with your talent, being a regimental commander or division commander is no problem at all. It's just that I'm a bit poor now, but for someone as ambitious and talented as you, shouldn't you aim higher than this? Please join us, fight for the people!"
"I don't care about the money, but I must disagree with this matter. Although your rebellion has some justification, in the end, you are nothing but agents of Soviet Russia in China. I, Sun, am not willing to be a running dog for Soviet Russia!", Sun Litun bluntly refused.
"Our party was indeed supported by the Soviet Union at its inception, but things are never static...". Hu Weidong really wanted to pull Sun Liren into his own camp. Although Sun Liren had a great reputation in history, he was not well received by Old Chiang because he did not listen and was not from the Whampoa clique, and his ending was very tragic...
"You've revealed so many secrets to me, is it that if I don't agree, I'll have to die?" Sun Liren asked calmly after hearing this, and immediately gave his own answer. "I'm very sorry, even if what you said is true, I still can't agree. Firstly, I don't want to implicate my family; secondly, the Red Army's equipment is too poor, I'm not used to it... I know your division or army has good equipment, but relying on plundering can't last long. Besides, if you plan to keep me locked up forever, then you might as well kill me now - a soldier can be killed but not humiliated!"
Hu Weidong did not take Sun Liren to see his own munitions factory, first because he didn't want to reveal this secret, and secondly because a munitions factory of this level would not be attractive to Sun Liren. Seeing that Sun Liren refused to join the Red Army even at the cost of his life, Hu Weidong was reluctant to really kill him to silence him, so he had to settle for second best and said, "We've finally caught a outstanding general like you, it would be a waste to let you go for nothing. How about this, you do one thing for us, and after that we'll find an opportunity to release you."
Sun Liren did not immediately refuse and hesitated, saying "Speak up."
"Your 'Sun's Military Manual' is a good training outline, but for our Red Army and even most of the Chinese army now, it seems too luxurious (the conditions of the Tax Police Corps are probably comparable to only one instructional corps in the whole country). But defeating the Japanese is not just about relying on a few well-equipped elite troops. We poor devils like us are the main force of the resistance war. So I hope you, General Sun, can work with me to compile a more comprehensive training outline and tactical principles that suit China's national conditions, for the sake of future resistance, please don't refuse."
"Can all troops be trained? It's unlikely to be completed in several months, but I'll help with this!" Sun Liren gritted his teeth and agreed. Hu Weidong was right, with China's current economic strength, even if the whole country is mobilized, it can only afford to maintain a few tens of thousands of elite troops like the Tax Police General Team. But relying solely on them would not be enough to defeat the Japanese, who could mobilize hundreds of millions of soldiers and had more advanced weapons. If he could transform China's hundreds of millions of second- and third-rate troops, the chances of winning the war would undoubtedly increase greatly. Moreover, it can be predicted that in at least one generation, China's poverty and whiteness will not fundamentally change, which means that his new drill manual may be used by the Chinese army for a long time after the victory of the war. This is undoubtedly a great honor for soldiers, and even just for this reason, Sun Liren would find it hard to refuse.
However, Sun Li-ren also added a condition, "I heard that your intelligence personnel are all-powerful, if possible, I hope to inform my family not to worry too much."
"This is probably not easy, you also know that our underground organization has suffered a lot in the past two years, but I will try my best." Hu Weidong replied honestly.
Although Hu Weidong's answer could not fully satisfy Sun Liren, he still accepted Hu Weidong's request and cooperated with him to compile a new drill manual suitable for China's national conditions. In fact, Hu Weidong had thought about this long ago, but the problem was that although he was quite familiar with special troops and artillery, and his memory still had many summaries of the PLA's training and combat experiences in later generations, these knowledge were not enough to form a complete drill manual for all branches of the military. Moreover, many parts of it went beyond this era, only a small part such as "三三制", "四组一队", "一点两面" was both advanced and practical. Now with Sun Liren's help, who could independently write "Sun's Drill Manual", Hu Weidong's shortcomings were basically made up for, and his own military theoretical level also improved significantly during the cooperation process with Sun Liren, which was probably an unexpected gain.
This drill manual took a whole year to complete the basic framework, and finally handed over to Taizu for review, pointing out and correcting some defects, while asking Luo Shuai and other outstanding political workers to supplement the military political work, this full-scale drill manual tailored for the Chinese army in the 1930s and 1940s, especially the people's army, was finally completed, making a significant contribution to the later war of resistance. As a result, when people mention "Drill Manual" later on, they are referring to this "Chinese National Defense Army Full-Scale Drill Manual".
