The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

The ship to Guangzhou was about to set sail, and Luo Zhanglong saw Chen Tianheng off at the dock.

After discovering that Chen Duxiu had begun to provide large sums of "special party dues" to the party, Luo Zhanglong first inquired about it and then intervened in the United Reading Group run by Chen Duxiu.

When he asked Chen Duxiu about this matter, Chen Duxiu impatiently brought up Chen Tianheng and said that he was in charge of everything.

Who was Chen Tianheng? He wasn't a stranger, not really. He was a student of Mao Runzhi and one of the two young Party members he brought to Shanghai for study and internship. The other, Jiang Xianyun, became Chen Duxiu's secretary.

Then, when Luo Zhanglong started to get in touch with the United Reading Group, Chen Tianheng directly handed over the entire group to him.

"My complete thoughts are actually no secret. Just look at the resolution of the Third National Congress of the Party," said Chen Tianheng.

"The highest program, the lowest program...eliminating civil unrest, overthrowing warlords, and unifying China into a true democratic republic?" Luo Zhanglong continued, "How does that connect to 'Story Club'?"

Chen Tianheng: "Last year, the Soviet Council of Ministers was established. It was the highest administrative body in the Soviet Union. With the transition from the Council of People's Commissars to the Council of Ministers, the CPSU now operates an administrative body consisting of the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and other functional agencies."

"Since 1917, after three years of civil war, the Soviet Red Army has basically formed the three major branches of the military: the Air Force, the Navy, and the Army. It also has a Ministry of National Defense, a General Staff, a Ministry of Military Industry, and a Ministry of Equipment and Logistics. This is a complete national defense and military system."

"We all say that the Soviet Union was the world's first proletarian regime, and that the only model our party and revolution can learn from is the Soviet Union. We should learn from it. But now, frankly speaking, many comrades are actually learning from the Paris Commune."

Luo Zhanglong: "So you are pushing the central government to learn to build these things by running a business?"

"To be more precise, I want the Party to have administrative capabilities. Mao Runzhi's work was to give the Party the ability to establish a political system, while also giving it administrative capabilities in industry, trade, and so on. Now we've made a start on this, but once we have a start, it will be easier. Next, it's time to make a start in another area."

Luo Zhanglong: "Another, what field?"

“Give the Party military capabilities.”

Chapter 27

"Chen Geng? ...Chen with glasses!"

"Hahaha, so you are here!"

At the Guangzhou wharf, Chen Tianheng disembarked after the cruise ship docked. He knew in Shanghai that there were comrades to receive him in Guangzhou, so he looked around without getting off the gangway and indeed found Chen Geng.

"The Peasant Movement Training Institute has been open for six months now, right? How's it going?"

"For the first three months, there were only a few dozen people, both teachers and students, who took turns giving presentations and the audience helping to summarize. Later, I heard that The Paper brought a group of people from Guangdong, so it should have been lively."

"As for me, I didn't stay at the training center for long. Later, Secretary Mao arranged for me to attend classes at the Military Academy."

After Chen Geng entered Guangdong with the troops withdrawing from the Hengyang peasant movement, the Kuomintang received him very warmly. After all, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had now merged.

This group of people were the first batch of teachers and college students of the Peasant Movement Training Institute. However, because Chen Geng showed good military ability in the peasant movement, Mao Runzhi contacted Tan Yankai, whose army opened a military school in Guangzhou. So Chen Geng was arranged to go there not long after staying at the Peasant Movement Training Institute.

Speaking of Tan Yankai, he lost the Tan-Zhao War last year.

At the beginning, Tan Yankai only touched the edge of Hunan and opened up his own opium route. Later, under the reprimand of Sun Yat-sen, he gritted his teeth and attacked Hengyang and Changsha, and actually took them down - although Tan Yankai's troops were cobbled together, Zhao Hengxi's army was even weaker.

But taking Changsha was not a good thing. After Zhao Hengxi was defeated in Changsha, Wu Peifu's Zhili warlords had a good reason to quickly move south. Tan Yankai's troops were unable to defeat Wu Peifu's army, so they fled again.

Both Tan Yankai and Zhao Hengxi were losers in this war. Tan Yankai's Hunan Army was defeated, and the Hunan Province that Zhao Hengxi had previously maintained, which was nominally subordinate to the Zhili clique but actually an independent kingdom, no longer existed.

Tan Yankai retreated all the way back to Guangzhou and sat in his office in the Grand Marshal's Headquarters. At the same time, he also opened a military academy called "Guangzhou Headquarters Army Academy". However, he called this military academy the Founding of the Hunan Army Academy, calculating that there should be a chance to retake Hunan in the future as part of the Northern Expedition.

After Chen Tianheng arrived in Guangzhou, there were at least two places where he could settle down:

At the Jianguo Hunan Army Military Academy, Chen Geng had already made a lot of friends, including instructors and students, so adding one more person was not a problem at all.

The "Huizhou Guild Hall" of the Peasant Movement Training Institute is of course a good place to stay. Although Mao Runzhi is not in Guangzhou recently and the training institute is temporarily presided over by Peng Pai, all the comrades who are engaged in the movement together in the Yuebei Farmers' Association are here.

"Secretary Mao and Secretary Chen Duxiu and I have agreed that my identity as a party member should be concealed for a while, so how about I go to the Military Academy and stay there for two days?" Chen Tianheng asked Chen Geng.

"Okay, but there aren't many smart students at the Military Academy, and the instructors are a bunch of half-wits," Chen Geng said. "I really envy you for being able to hide your identity. When I entered Guangdong and made contact with the Kuomintang, I told them I was a Communist Party member..."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute,"

Chen Tianheng interrupted Chen Geng: "Aren't there many smart students in the Military Academy? I think your standard for 'smart' is wrong."

Although Tan Yankai was not happy about his military academy students being poached to Huangpu, there were more than a dozen people like Chen Geng who sneaked out to apply for the Huangpu Military Academy. Among them, there was a person whose name was familiar to everyone:

Song Xilian.

Even if we exclude the dozen or so people who have decided to apply for the Whampoa Military Academy, there are still five people whose names are familiar to everyone among the other students of the Military Academy who did not apply for the Whampoa Military Academy:

Zuo Quan, Cai Shenxi, Li Mo'an, Chen Mingren, and Liu Yongyao.

Not familiar with Liu Yongyao? His granddaughter is called Rene Liu.

"Hello everyone, sorry to bother you. I'm Chen Tianheng, and I'd like to stay here for a few days."

Walking into the dormitory with large bunk beds, Chen Tianheng bowed and greeted the students in the dormitory.

Chen Geng: "This Chen Tianheng and I are close friends. I'd like to trouble you all for a moment and treat everyone to dinner later. Wenbao, you have an extra quilt on your bed. Borrow it. Zuo Quan, can I borrow a pillow? I'll just use your torn one. No need to throw your good one over here... Put them all on this empty bed and we'll be all set."

Chen Tianheng could see that this military academy was quite shabby.

There was only one class, with over a hundred students living in four large bunk beds. Housekeeping and dormitory management were practically nonexistent. Not to mention their prospects. No wonder a dozen students secretly wanted to apply to the Whampoa Military Academy.

"Judging from your accents, it seems like everyone is from Hunan?" Chen Tianheng started a conversation.

"Of course. Commander Tan is from Hunan, so the students are all from Hunan, naturally."

Chen Tianheng: "Commander Tan established this military academy because he still harbored the hope of making a comeback. But now that the KMT and the CCP are cooperating, if they want to launch the Northern Expedition, they must first unify the army and unify military orders. Even if Commander Tan still has achievements in the future, his army will probably be under the unified organization of the revolutionary army."

Zuo Quan: "Yes, when I graduate, I'll join the army, the revolutionary army. We're all classmates, and when we ask, he'll tell me he graduated from Whampoa Military Academy, and I'll be from some military academy. I regret not secretly applying to Whampoa Military Academy, but it's too late now. I don't know when Whampoa Military Academy will recruit its second batch of students."

Chen Tianheng: "Don't worry, you will all become Whampoa students soon, so you don't need to apply."

"Ah? You mean, the Military Academy will merge with Huangpu?" Song Xilian's mind was quick and he began to guess.

Chen Tianheng: "Guangzhou is so small. We already have one Whampoa Military Academy. If we have a second one, it would be too crowded. Mr. Sun also strongly advocates that the Military Academy be abandoned and all students and teachers be merged into Whampoa Military Academy. Commander Tan hasn't agreed yet, but in a few months, under Mr. Sun's pressure, Commander Tan will definitely agree to the merger plan."

Li Mo'an: "I hear you speak so logically. Well, let's wait a few months and see if you are a prophet or just a blind guesser."

Chen Tianheng: "I'm also looking forward to it in a few months. We can wait together."

……

The final examination of the Whampoa Military Academy is on March 27th.

"The preliminary exam is on March 14th, and the final exam is on the 27th. I've been studying every day for these nine days. I'm so tired!"

An hour before the exam, Chen Tianheng, Jiang Xianyun and Chen Geng were outside the examination room of Guangdong Higher Normal School, looking at piles of candidates who were still studying hard with textbooks in their hands.

"Did you all take the preliminary exam in March?" Jiang Xianyun asked.

"Department, the exam is on the 14th, and I didn't get the recommendation letter for the final exam until the 20th. Are you from out of town? How's your review going?"

Chen Geng: "What review? I didn't review at all."

Chen Tianheng: "Exactly, review is useless. I'm taking the test without preparation today."

Amidst the horrified gazes of a group of examinees, the three of them entered the examination room chatting and laughing.

For the Whampoa Military Academy's preliminary exams, the time and format for the exams were determined by the KMT Central Committee members authorized to issue letters of recommendation in regions outside Guangdong. If a committee member decided not to take the exam, relying solely on physiognomy to decide whether to recommend a candidate, that was also acceptable. For Guangdong, the preliminary exams were held on March 14th. With the final exams less than two weeks away, don't blame the candidates for cramming at the last minute; they had only received the announced exam subjects and textbooks a few days earlier.

The first day's exam was Chinese, and it was just a composition test. The composition topic was exactly the same as the one from the first Whampoa Military Academy exam:

On the Causes of China's Poverty and Weakness and the Best Ways to Save It

……

The next day is math and history.

Chen Tianheng didn't know the exact question, nor had he seen the original one online before, but that didn't matter. In this era, there weren't many difficult or odd questions, or tricky ones that required nitpicking, and the number of questions was relatively small. A future time traveler, as long as they had thoroughly digested and mastered the high school textbooks, could easily deal with this kind of exam with a straight punch.

"Classmate, you submitted your math test early this morning. Why did you submit this one early as well?"

After walking out of the examination room, Chen Tianheng was stopped by a voice.

He wasn't an invigilator. He was dressed like an officer and had guards around him, so he might be inspecting the exam room.

Chen Tianheng stood at attention and replied, "Sir, I have finished answering all the questions. I checked them and found no mistakes, so I handed them in."

"Why don't you just hand in a blank paper if you can't think of an answer?"

Chen Tianheng: "No. I can't say for sure I'll get first place in this exam, but I'll definitely be among the top."

"Oh?" The officer became interested. He took two steps forward and looked at Chen Tianheng carefully. "I'm not an examiner, and I won't be grading the papers, so why not tell me your name and place of origin? I'll see in half a month whether you're bragging or not."

"Chen Tianheng is from Changsha, Hunan, and his ancestral home is Guangzhou."

The officer nodded to indicate he remembered, then paced a few steps as if remembering something, then turned back. "Today's test was math and history, and yesterday's was Chinese. Do you remember how you wrote your essay?"

"The reasons for China's poverty and weakness in modern times are: first, the Qing Dynasty's isolation, racial segregation, and ideological suppression; second, Confucianism's complacency and adherence to old ways; third, the dynasty's decline, rampant corruption, and resistance to reform; fourth, foreign invasions and plundering of wealth; and fifth, warlordism and the devastation of the people. To save China, I believe the current priority is the revolutionary army's Northern Expedition, the overthrow of the warlords, the unification of China, and the realization of domestic peace."

"Very good," the officer nodded slightly. "Very neat, not perfect, but at least a high score. While comprehensive, it lacks that striking edge. Shouldn't young people be a little more radical in their thinking?"

I am not young at all. My ages in both lives combined are almost forty years old, and what I write is the result of nearly a hundred years of summary and refinement.

"A mature thinker should learn to look at problems comprehensively, not one-sidedly. A one-sided view makes it impossible to seek truth from facts and accomplish things effectively. Only by looking at problems comprehensively can one accurately assess the enemy situation, formulate rigorous operational plans, conduct work in a convincing manner, and lead operations to victory."

Even if the officer's brain worked quickly, he would have to look up at the sky for several seconds to process all the words.

"Have you ever been a soldier? An officer?"

"I became a librarian after graduating from a normal school. I learned all this through reading."

"Chen Tianheng, right?"

The officer stared at Chen Tianheng.

"I didn't tell you who I am. I'm Bai Chongxi, a school committee member and an instructor in the infantry department."

"I'll keep an eye on you after you enroll."

Chapter 28

In 1923, Bai Chongxi formally met with Sun Yat-sen, expressing his willingness to join the New Guangxi Clique, led by Huang Shaohong and Bai Chongxi. At the time, Huang and Bai were organizing the First Guangxi Anti-Rebel Army, intending to defeat Shen Hongying and unify Guangxi. The Whampoa Military Academy was also under construction, and Sun Yat-sen entrusted him with the nominal position of instructor in the infantry department.

He came to inspect the examination hall, actually, he also wanted to see if there were any promising talents. If he was lucky, he could pick two on the spot to supplement his New Guangxi Army. Many of the candidates who applied for the Whampoa Military Academy had previously served as soldiers or low-level officers in various warlords.

Chen Tianheng's words and deeds made Bai Chongxi very convinced that this person had previously served as an officer in other warlord troops, but Chen Tianheng flatly denied it, saying that he was a normal school graduate.

Bai Chongxi, full of doubts, had to keep the suspense for the time being and wait until the Huangpu school opened to verify it.

After Bai Chongxi turned and left, Chen Geng also jumped out of the examination room alive and well.

Then Jiang Xianyun handed in his paper.

The three people in the "review for nothing" group all submitted their papers early.

"Who was talking to you just now? He seemed to be a superior." Chen Geng asked.

"He was Bai Chongxi's instructor in the infantry department and also a staff officer at the Generalissimo's headquarters," Chen Tianheng said. "I'd love to catch up with him and learn more from him if I get a chance. Instructor Bai might be one of the few Chinese instructors with real skills."

……

The final exam results were posted on the most conspicuous street in Guangzhou City.

This street was where the winners of the provincial examinations were announced during the Qing Dynasty. When the results were posted on the wall, the entire street was packed with people, all eager to see who had passed the first class of the military academy under Marshal Sun.

This treatment is quite grand, and it also shows that Sun Yat-sen's decades of hard work and struggle have changed at least some parts of China and some people.

Although the warlords in the south had been secretly calling Sun Dapao "Sun Yat-sen" for no less than 10 years, and overseas Chinese were not very happy that the large sums of money they donated were wasted, in the eyes of the people, this man ran around, fought again and again after repeated failures, and rebelled for decades not for the purpose of becoming emperor himself. For this reason alone, he was far superior to Yuan Shikai, Wu Peifu and Chen Jiongming.

First Place: Chen Tianheng, from Changsha, Hunan

Second place: Jiang Xianyun, from Xintian, Hunan

"Third place: Chen Geng, from Xiangxiang, Hunan"

"Oh oh oh!"

The three cheered when they saw their names in the top three. Chen Tianheng cheered for himself, too. Although he knew that Whampoa was essentially a non-commissioned officer academy, far inferior to the Naval Command Academy he had attended in his previous life, this scene, the crowds filling the streets, the envious and admiring glances directed at them, was truly captivating.

All in all, a good day is for sure.

"Xianyun? Chen Geng? You're also looking at the list here!"

A bespectacled, gentle middle-aged man squeezed in near the three of them and said, "Since you're ranked second and third overall, there's no suspense. After the military academy opens, the Communist Party members will establish a Party and League branch. Tomorrow I'll have a small meeting with you two. I need to get a grasp on the situation of the student Party members. Um, who is this?"

"Ahem," Jiang Xianyun coughed. "He's... our friend, Chen Tianheng, the one who took first place in this exam. Chen Tianheng, this is Instructor Yun Daiying."

Yun Daiying: "Oh! So you three are friends!"

"Instructor Yun, I've long admired you," Chen Tianheng said, taking a deep breath. "I'm a loyal reader of China Youth magazine."

Before going to Guangzhou to help the Kuomintang party organize its work, Yun Daiying was the editor-in-chief of the "Chinese Youth" magazine.

Yun Daiying: "You got first place in the exam, that's impressive. Classmate Chen, are you interested in joining our activities in the future?"

Yun Daiying was trying to recruit him into the Party organization. Chen Tianheng held his breath again, "Okay."

……

"Hey, you're not going to participate in Party activities and then be recruited by Instructor Yun, so you have to join the Party again, right?" As the three of them left the bustling crowd and found themselves alone, Chen Geng said, "I don't know if this is in line with discipline, but you might have to pay two Party dues."