Republic of China, 1922: Rise from the Post-Zhili-Fengtian War

Zhang Tingshu leaned closer: "I know you're saying this to stabilize morale, but are you still planning to empty your uncle's pocket to pay the entire regiment? Fine, even if your Feng family is rich, what about food? You've seen it all along:"

The fighting had just ended, and the surrounding villages and towns were either deserted or their granaries had been looted. Where could they find so much food? They couldn't very well send their brothers out to dig for wild vegetables again, could they?

Faced with a barrage of questions, Gu Cheng gestured for them to sit down: "Don't forget we have guns—in this day and age, how can you not find food if you have guns?"

At this point, he raised his hand and gestured on the table with his index finger, "Besides, when I distributed the grain, it wasn't just for the sake of stabilizing morale... You two think about it carefully, aren't Mu Haisheng and Yang Hao acting a bit strange today?"

Gao Tianqi frowned: "I felt something was off the moment I walked in. Mu Haisheng looks honest, but he's always speaking with hidden meanings; and Yang Hao is clearly afraid to speak his mind... I'm afraid the problems in this group are quite serious."

At this moment, Zhang Tingshu waved to Yang Song, asking him to keep an eye on things in the courtyard, before sitting down and saying, "Mu Haisheng just said, 'Brigade Commander Sun wants to report a thousand men'—the meaning couldn't be clearer. The affairs of the Jinzhou Regiment aren't entirely up to Mu Haisheng; Sixth Uncle is pulling the strings behind the scenes."

Gu Cheng looked up at him and nodded slightly—the "Sixth Uncle" that Zhang Tingshu mentioned was none other than Sun Liechen.

The Zhili-Fengtian War has just ended, but the situation remains tense: the Zhili army has stationed tens of thousands of troops at Shanhaiguan, keeping a watchful eye on the Liaoxi region.

The neutral zone between Luanzhou and Jinzhou was guarded by elite troops from both the Zhili and Fengtian sides, and neither side dared to cross the border easily. That place was Jinzhou's first line of defense and a vital strategic location in western Liaoning.

As for Sun Liechen, as the most loyal and valiant general under Marshal Zhang Zuolin, he is now the guardian of this neutral zone, commanding a large army, guarding against the westward advance of the Zhili army, and also keeping an eye on the territory of Jinzhou.

Gao Tianqi leaned forward and said, "Right now we've been transferred to Jinzhou, and we're officially under Brigade Commander Sun's command... But the Marshal has also transferred the 11th Mixed Brigade here, which is clearly an attempt to reorganize and reposition them."

But would Brigade Commander Sun be happy? Jinzhou is under his protection, and the troops stationed here are also his. If we come, it's like taking everything in one fell swoop!

Gao Tianqi's meaning was clear: Jinzhou was currently within Sun Liechen's sphere of influence, and in Sun Liechen's eyes, both Gu Cheng and Tang Yulin were vying for territory.

But after listening, Gu Cheng just shook his head and smiled: "Whether it's Sun Liechen or Tang Yulin, aren't they both the commander-in-chief's subordinates? Our mission in Jinzhou is to reorganize and build the Jinzhou camp. We don't need to think too much about other things."

He pulled out cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to each person, then lit them with a match. "Right now, the most important thing is to find out the actual number of people and equipment in the regiment as soon as possible before Tang Yulin comes to cause trouble."

Zhang Tingshu nodded, then pressed further, "So, you're planning to have me or Tianqi try to get information out of him? Fine, I think Yang Hao is timid and cowardly, so why don't I go and sound him out first?"

Upon hearing him offer to take on the task, Gu Cheng first smiled and then said, "No need. Didn't I already give them food?"

Zhang Tingshu and Gao Tianqi were both taken aback: "What do you mean?"

Gu Cheng tapped the wooden table again, on which he had written a few numbers with tea: "The number of people can be faked, but the number of mouths that eat the food cannot be faked... According to Mu Haisheng, with a whole regiment of a thousand people, how many days will the little bit of food we're giving them be enough?"

Zhang Tingshu's eyes lit up: "That's a brilliant idea! No wonder you said there was food and military pay, enough to feed the whole regiment tonight... So you were just scheming to inflate the numbers!"

Gao Tianqi chuckled, "The difference in consumption between a thousand people and a few hundred is like night and day. If you tell them that supplies will arrive within a day or two, you'll reveal the true extent of their losses!"

Gu Cheng exhaled a puff of smoke and smiled at the two of them: "Alright, stop praising me. It's time to assign you two tasks: Tianqi, these two days you should build good relationships with Mu Haisheng, Yang Hao, and the quartermaster in the regiment. Then, use my method to calculate the number of people in the regiment... I think the error won't be too big."

Then he turned to Zhang Tingshu and said, "Let's take a break later and go out for a walk with me tonight. First, I want to check the defenses of Jinzhou City and gather some information about the city. I need to have a good understanding of these things. Second, we can also 'find some food' while we're at it."

Zhang Tingshu was delighted to hear this: "Great! I'll definitely be there for this kind of excitement... You settle in first, I'll ask Old Yang to arrange a few guards, and we'll take a good look around inside and outside the city, trying to 'find' as much food as possible!"

The three young men exchanged knowing smiles. Then Zhang Tingshu was the first to get up and quickly went out to call Yang Song to make the arrangements.

Gu Cheng silently smoked a cigarette, plotting his next move.

Lost in thought, he noticed Gao Tianqi was still sitting beside him, so he looked up at him and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something else?"

Gao Tianqi pondered for a moment, then cautiously said, "Jingchuan, after thinking it over, this job in Jinzhou seems like a trap!"

Gu Cheng stubbed out his cigarette: "What do you mean? For the Northeast, Jinzhou's strategic location is extremely important. The fact that the Marshal can entrust us with such a heavy responsibility clearly shows his complete trust in us."

Furthermore, you and I are still members of the Army Reorganization Department, bearing the heavy responsibility of the reorganization of the Jinzhou area and the 11th Mixed Brigade—if we do well, the Marshal will not treat us poorly.

Gao Tianqi sighed: "But given the current situation, it's probably very difficult to do anything right: to Brigade Commander Sun, we are the ones who were sent down from the marshal's side... If the 11th Mixed Brigade arrives, will the three of us be caught in the middle?"

Gu Cheng knew that he was always meticulous and had a nickname of "Little Calculator" and was also very sensitive to interpersonal relationships.

But no matter how skilled he was at divination, he couldn't have predicted what would happen next.

Gu Cheng was different.

"Don't worry, Brigade Commander Sun won't care about the gains and losses in Jinzhou... Mu Haisheng is his man, and the troops guarding Jinzhou are also his men; but now they're scattered and need to be reorganized, so wouldn't it be better if we did it for him?"

Gu Cheng stood up, dusted off his clothes, and continued, "Besides, he has rendered meritorious service in guarding Luanzhou, so the Marshal will definitely assign him a good job. It's hard to say whether he will even be interested in Jinzhou."

It should be noted that the Zhili-Fengtian War ended in June, and by mid-August, Sun Liechen was to be transferred back to serve as the military governor of Jilin... Relatively speaking, the gains and losses in Jinzhou were really insignificant.

Gao Tianqi's eyes clearly showed some worry, but hearing Gu Cheng's confident words, he didn't say anything more. He got up and said he would go find Mu Haisheng and meet the quartermaster of the regiment.

Gu Cheng watched him leave, then took off his shoes, climbed onto the earthen bed, spread out a blanket, and lay down to sleep—he needed to catch up on some sleep as he had important responsibilities to fulfill that night.