The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

A few instructors joined Huangpu to continue teaching, and all the more than 100 students automatically became the first batch of Huangpu students!

After being incorporated into the Whampoa Military Academy, students only needed to study at Whampoa for another two or three months to receive their diplomas. This was because the first batch of students at the main Whampoa Military Academy had only studied for a little over five months, while the current batch of students at the Military Academy had already trained for almost a year at Tan Yankai's shabby academy, and most of them could reach the same level of Whampoa graduates.

How can I not be happy about this?

"My prediction is correct, isn't it?"

Chen Tianheng also arrived at the Military Academy. He, Chen Geng and Song Xilian all lived in the large dormitory here. Now he was greeting the students whom he hadn't seen for several months.

Li Mo'an: "True God, the prediction was correct."

Zuo Quan: "Chen Tianheng, I noticed you're wearing a cross-body belt. Are you an officer?"

Chen Tianheng fiddled with his military uniform and indeed put on a belt (a diagonal leather belt), because he now had a pistol hanging around his waist, a Browning given by Chiang Kai-shek.

"I've come to see you today because I have something to tell you, and it's definitely related to this diagonal leather belt," Chen Tianheng said. "The 1st Training Regiment of the Whampoa Military Academy, which was deployed during the Merchant Corps' rebellion, will be officially commissioned next week. I'm slated to command the 1st Battalion of the 1st Training Regiment. Is there anyone from your military academy who'd like to join my first battalion?"

"Why ask?" "Of course I do." "Can I join the First Battalion just by signing up?"

Chen Tianheng: "In the past few months, I have established a club in Huangpu, the War Research Society. Even after our first batch graduates, this War Research Society will continue to exist, because the training regiment is also stationed on Changzhou Island... and there are new members from the second batch joining. After you move to Changzhou Island, try to apply to join the War Research Society. Those who can pass the membership examination can join the 1st Battalion."

Cai Shenxi: "Is the entrance examination for this war research society difficult?"

Chen Geng: "Let me tell you something. There was a student named Hu Zongnan in our first term. President Chiang Kai-shek was amazed after interviewing him and called him a good general. He was one of the six 'good generals' selected by the president after interviewing more than 6 students. However, Hu Zongnan failed the entrance examination for the War Research Society."

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

Song Xilian: "It's not that scary. Chen Geng, don't scare them. The main issue is Hu Zongnan. He's from Zhejiang and is a relatively honest person, which suits the president's taste. Don't think that the president's evaluation of him as a 'good general' is very valuable."

Zuo Quan: "I heard that there are over 400 graduates from the first term, plus our group, there are just over 600. Is that enough for a teaching group?"

Chen Tianheng: "Actually, there are fewer than 400. Over 100 graduates have been taken away by the military agencies of the Generalissimo's Office, the Ministry of the Army and the Navy, the Generalissimo's Guard, and so on. The remaining 300 or so are even less than enough. The revolutionary government is recruiting soldiers, and by the end of the year we should be able to have more than 1,000 or nearly 2,000 people. There won't be more than that. Guangdong people are generally undisciplined and don't really like to serve in the military."

The students of the Military Academy were in high spirits, chatting and joking while packing their bedding and luggage.

Around noon, Jiang Xianyun also arrived at the Military Academy to join Chen Tianheng and the others. He had gone to the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute that morning. However, there was another person who came with Jiang Xianyun.

"Commissioner Luo?!"

It was quite a surprise to meet Luo Zhanglong in Guangzhou.

Member of the Central Committee of the Second and Third National Congresses, and General Manager of the United Reading Group.

Luo Zhanglong: "Chen Tianheng, please call me General Manager Luo. Regarding the Big Four, I am no longer a member of the Central Committee."

……

The Fourth National Congress of the Communist Party of China just concluded last week.

According to the original historical line, the Fourth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in January 1925, but now it has been moved forward by two months.

In fact, as early as the summer of 1924, Chen Duxiu planned to convene the Fourth National Congress of the Communist Party of China. However, the meeting date according to the original historical line was postponed again and again, and finally to January 1925.

Why was the Fourth National Congress repeatedly postponed? See a letter from Chen Duxiu to Borodin in September 1935:

"... We expect to receive from you (Vyginsky) over a thousand dollars in the near future to cover the expenses of the conference."

The original historical trajectory of the Central Committee's budget was far from sufficient, and the Fourth National Congress required over a thousand yuan in Comintern funding to afford it. However, Vylynsky dragged his feet until January 1925, when he had time to attend the Fourth National Congress, and then provided the money to hold the meeting.

In this historical arc, while the United Reading Group engaged in some bizarre business ventures, it also provided significant financial support to the central government while training economic officials. Chen Duxiu was now financially independent, not only able to cover conference expenses but even receiving a chicken drumstick for his lunch box.

Since he did not need funding from the Communist International, Chen Duxiu did not write the letter asking for money as shown in the original historical line. He issued the notice in October 1924 and convened the Fourth National Congress in November.

Moreover, Vilynsky was not invited to the meeting!

"If I remember correctly, this is the first National Party Congress since the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China without the participation of the Soviet Union and the Communist International," Chen Tianheng said. "It's a historic progress. But from your tone, it seems that there were a lot of unexpected events at this congress."

Luo Zhanglong: "This shows that we haven't done some things well. It's not the Communist International's fault, but our team is still relatively immature."

……

The unexpected things started happening before the Fourth Congress was held.

First, at a preparatory meeting of the Secretariat, representatives began to criticize some Party members for being overly preoccupied with KMT affairs since the KMT-CCP ​​collaboration. During the discussion, Zhang Guotao criticized Mao Runzhi, saying, "You're so dedicated to the KMT cause. You might as well be Hu Hanmin's secretary."

Mao Runzhi hit back, saying that the Kuomintang began to carry out the peasant movement in 1923 and established the Peasant Department at the beginning of this year, while the Communist Party of China still does not have a separate department to lead the peasant movement.

In addition, Zhang Tailei also criticized Mao Runzhi during the discussion. The preparatory meeting was full of tensions. Chen Duxiu's mediation efforts were ineffective. In the end, Mao Runzhi took sick leave from Shanghai and returned to Hunan to participate in the peasant movement—of course, under the guise of the Kuomintang's Peasant Department and the Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute.

Luo Zhanglong was criticized for many articles in the "Chinese Workers" magazine he edited, which called the Kuomintang the leading force of the national revolution. Luo Zhanglong also started a quarrel and finally withdrew from the list of the four representatives together with Mao Runzhi.

Chen Tianheng: "Then, has the resolution of the Big Four been announced?"

"You'll see it in the newspaper in a few days."

The resolution has two main aspects.

The first was the Party's organizational form. For the first time, the Party's grassroots organizations were changed from Party groups to branches. The original provision in the Constitution, "a group of five or more members can be organized," was changed to "a branch of three or more members can be organized." Thus, branches officially became the Party's grassroots organizational form.

The second is about the current cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. The resolution of the conference states that "we should help the Kuomintang develop in practical movements and organizations, and at the same time intensify the struggle against the tendency of compromise within the Kuomintang."

In fact, this kind of "both" and "also" resolution is not easy to implement and can easily become nonsense.

If the phrase "both" or "also" appears in a resolution, you should generally look at the first two or three paragraphs of the document, which will determine a general tone or principle of struggle. Once you understand this thoroughly, you will know what to do when the phrase "both" or "also" appears in the following text.

But if you look at the front of the resolution, it doesn't seem to say whether the general principle is unity or struggle.

This is good. From now on, cooperation with the Kuomintang will depend entirely on the party members’ own judgment.

……

"Chen Tianheng, those novel outlines you send out are becoming increasingly brief. I'm afraid the contracted authors won't know how to write them if I take them back."

Luo Zhanglong was talking about storytelling.

During this period, communication with Shanghai was poor, and Chen Tianheng could only write letters or send telegrams when he had the opportunity to go into the city. Because the number of words and the length of the article could not be too long, he could no longer write a detailed outline for "Story Club" and could only provide some ideas.

For example, the page of paper that Luo Zhanglong got actually had 12 ideas written on it.

The first idea is:

【Science Fiction】 【Dinosaurs Return and Eat the Earth】

Then it was gone.

Chen Tianheng: "Let the creators of the detailed outlines come up with their own ideas. What they come up with depends on their own luck."

Luo Zhanglong: “…”

……

Chen Tianheng returned to the military academy just in time to receive the weapons from the First Battalion of the Training Regiment. Of course, he, the battalion commander, had to sign.

"Type 38 rifles, 500."

Chen Tianheng looked at the long row of wooden crates behind him, checked them, and signed.

"Maxim heavy machine guns, six."

Chen Tianheng: "Is this a 7.62 or 7.92 caliber? There shouldn't be a 6.5 caliber, right?"

"Using 7.62 Russian bullets." The quartermaster replied briefly.

Chen Tianheng: "In this infantry battalion, the rifle and machine gun bullets are not compatible..."

"We gave the Soviets whatever they had," the quartermaster said. "The Type 6 rifles were from the Soviet Far Eastern Military District's inventory. Before World War I, they were worried they wouldn't have enough rifles, so they imported a batch from Japan, but they've been sitting in warehouses ever since, unused. The Maxim rifles are similar—they're all second-hand. But having them available is good enough, though. Look, a battalion has six heavy machine guns alone."

Chen Tianheng: "Do you have any cannons?"

The quartermaster shook his head. "No one has any artillery right now. The Soviet artillery won't be unloaded by a ship until next month in Guangzhou. Besides, you don't have an artillery department in the first term, right? All four teams are infantry departments."

Chen Tianheng: "Okay, one last thing: How many bullets can I get?"

Chapter 46

The Soviet Union's aided arms were shipped from Vladivostok to Guangzhou. By November 1935, only one ship had been shipped, but the arms on this ship included 8000 rifles, 40 heavy machine guns, and 4 million rounds of ammunition.

This amount of ammunition and weapons could quickly make one a small warlord within the Beiyang warlord circle (enough to arm a brigade plus several security regiments and security teams). And this was only the first batch of arms.

What Chen Tianheng asked was "how many bullets can be distributed", meaning how many bullets can be allocated to the 1st Battalion for training after the teaching regiment is formed.

The quartermaster's answer was that the infantry would conduct live-fire exercises twice a month, with 5 rounds of bullets each time; the heavy machine gun team would also conduct live-fire exercises twice a month, with 50 rounds per gun each time.

"The training bullets distributed are a bit too few." Chen Tianheng frowned.

"Don't worry too much. There will be additional supplies after the second batch of Soviet arms arrives."

The Guangzhou Revolutionary Government now has the support of the national power of an industrial country, which is incomparable to the warlords such as the Zhili clique and the Anhui clique.

By the end of 1924, over 300 Soviet advisors and experts had arrived in Guangdong, providing support to the Kuomintang in all political and military areas. Sun Yat-sen's chief political advisor was Borodin, and his military advisor was Galen. The newly established teaching corps at the Whampoa Military Academy was equipped with Soviet weapons and equipment, and the expansion and strengthening of the Grand Marshal's Guard was also predicated on these Soviet arms shipments to Guangzhou.

In 1924, the powerful factions in China that received assistance from the Soviet Union were not limited to the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government.

In the northern Zhili clique's territory, Feng Yuxiang staged a "Beijing coup" in October, imprisoning President Cao Kun and leading to the suicide of Cao Kun's brother, Cao Rui. To address the financial crisis, Feng Yuxiang expelled Puyi and other members of the Qing imperial family from the Forbidden City, seizing the 4 million silver yuan annual funding allocated to the Republic of China's imperial family.

When Feng Yuxiang's and Hu Jingyi's troops, who launched the Beijing coup, entered Beijing, Beijing citizens discovered that not only did one-third of the soldiers in these troops carry "water beads", but there were even big-nosed Russians in the team.

Six months earlier, Soviet military advisers had entered the northwest from Outer Mongolia and established liaison with the forces of Feng Yuxiang and Hu Jingyi. Within these warlord armies, Soviet advisers and the White Russian deserters, who had fought each other so fiercely in previous years, appeared to have reconciled, and together they trained Feng and Hu's Nationalist Army.

By October 1924, Soviet military advisers' activities had even reached Henan.

In the Northeast, Zhang Zuolin excluded the Soviet Union and was closer to Japan. The Soviet Union quietly approached Zhang Zuolin's generals and important officials, waiting for the right time to launch a coup.

Speaking of Outer Mongolia, in May 1924, Beiyang's Gu Weijun and Soviet representative Karakhan signed the "Sino-Soviet Agreement on the Outline for the Settlement of Outstanding Issues" in Beijing. In this agreement, the Soviet Union still nominally recognized Outer Mongolia as part of China, even though the Beiyang government now had no control over Outer Mongolia and a full Soviet division was stationed in Kulun (Ulaanbaatar). In July, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party declared the establishment of a new state, naming it the "Mongolian People's Republic." In November, the Soviet Union suddenly signed the "Soviet-Mongolian Treaty of Amity" with Outer Mongolia, signifying mutual recognition of the legitimate governments of both sides.

As the turbulent year of 1924 was drawing to a close, another piece of big news broke:

Sun Yat-sen is heading north!

Sun Yat-sen is going to Beijing!

Sun Yat-sen did not lead troops to attack Beijing, but went to Beijing alone to discuss national affairs!

The news shocked the nation. Sun Yat-sen, who had been wanted by the Beiyang government several times, was now traveling north and chatting and laughing with people in Beijing. This was unbelievable.

The Soviet Union initially supported Sun Yat-sen's trip north. This began when Feng Yuxiang, after occupying Beijing, invited Sun Yat-sen to discuss national affairs. However, the situation in Beijing soon changed. Zhang Zuolin's Fengtian Army entered the city, driving Feng Yuxiang and Hu Jingyi out of Beijing. By November, Beijing was under the control of the Zhili-Fengtian Alliance. At this point, the Soviet Union began to dissuade Sun Yat-sen from traveling to Beijing.

However, Sun Yat-sen's attitude towards going north became even more resolute.

Borodin believed that after the reform, the Kuomintang had become a Leninist party, and with the continuous assistance from the Soviet Union, the strength of the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government would steadily increase. Sun Yat-sen could just take it step by step, arm a 400,000-strong army with Soviet weapons in a few years, and unify China province by province. Whether it was the Zhili clique, the Fengtian clique, or the now paralyzed Anhui warlords, none of them would be his match, and there was no need to go north for negotiations.

Negotiations will inevitably involve compromises. Only if the Beiyang warlords make some concessions and Sun Yat-sen also makes some concessions can something be achieved.

However, Sun Yat-sen did not listen to Borodin's dissuasion, saying that he went north "firstly, hoping to cooperate with the northern authorities to seek peaceful reunification of the country, and secondly, to awaken the people's consciousness." What was particularly important was peaceful reunification. China had fought too many wars in the past 30 years, and the whole country had been torn apart.

In the Kuomintang, key party members supported Sun Yat-sen's decision, but also expressed doubts and concerns, mainly about personal safety. After all, if they were to travel north, they would meet Duan Qirui, Zhang Zuolin, and the Beiyang Army of the Zhili and Fengtian cliques in Beijing.

……

"Tianheng, what do you think about this matter?"

Another private chat channel with Chiang Kai-shek. In Chiang Kai-shek's office.

Among the newly graduated first-term Whampoa Military Academy students, it's common knowledge that Chiang Kai-shek trusted Chen Tianheng and Hu Zongnan the most. He also particularly admired Jiang Xianyun and Chen Geng. Because these two were avowed Communist Party members, Chiang Kai-shek often sought them out for private conversations, primarily through persuasion and trying to win them over to his side.

What Chiang Kai-shek asked Chen Tianheng about was not Sun Yat-sen's going north, but that after the news of Sun Yat-sen's going north came out, Chen Duxiu in Shanghai opposed Sun Yat-sen's going north and he specially published an article in the newspaper to express his views.

In addition, Zhao Shiyan, secretary of the Northern District Committee of the Communist Party of China, also opposed Sun Yat-sen's move north. Zhao Shiyan believed that Sun Yat-sen was trying to form a triangular alliance between Sun, Duan (Qirui), and Zhang (Zuolin), which was equivalent to the Kuomintang abandoning the policy of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and compromising with the warlords.

"President, to date, this matter has only been reported in newspaper articles by Chen Duxiu and Zhao Shiyan. There has been no statement from the Central Executive Committee or the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China. Therefore, it can be considered that these are the views expressed by Chen and Zhao in their personal names, not a collective decision of the Communist Party of China."

Chiang Kai-shek: "The Chinese Communist Party is too bookish. They always think that they can understand profound principles by reading a few books. But can books teach us how to unify the country? Without understanding the profound principles, they will be confused when encountering difficulties."

Chen Tianheng: "However, after the news of Premier Sun's northward march spread, not all CCP cadres expressed opposition. Director Zhou publicly expressed his support for Sun Yat-sen's northward march. Most members of the Youth Army Association also supported Premier Sun's northward march, including Jiang Xianyun, Chen Geng and other Communists."

Last month, Dai Jitao left Guangzhou for Japan, and Zhou Enlai, who had just returned to China, replaced Dai Jitao as the director of the Political Department of the Whampoa Military Academy.

"Director Enlai is a man of great character, and his vision is naturally good. It's a pity that such a talent couldn't come to the Kuomintang side."

Chen Tianheng smiled and said, "Principal, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are currently cooperating, and all Communist Party members have also joined the Kuomintang."

"Of course, I'm not talking about that kind of joining. What I'm saying is that if he's already a member of the Kuomintang, then I'd feel much more at ease," Chiang Kai-shek said. "Tianheng, you're also in the Young Military Association. Did you join the Communist Party some time ago?"

"Reporting to the principal, I have a deep personal friendship with Jiang Xianyun and Chen Geng in the Youth Army Association. I have never submitted an application to join the Communist Party at Huangpu."

"That's good. As long as you haven't submitted an application," Chiang Kai-shek said, feeling slightly relieved. "Tianheng, this conversation is known only to you and me. Although we must reach a consensus within the party, privately speaking, I believe the Prime Minister's decision to go north is also questionable."

Chen Tianheng: "If the Prime Minister's trip north achieves unification of the north and south, the revolutionary army of the Guangdong Revolutionary Government will not yet be formed. After the unification of China, the army will still be dominated by various warlords, and there will be too few true revolutionary armies. This kind of north-south unification will be difficult to maintain. If, in a year or two, we can form one or even two revolutionary armies based on the teachers and students of Whampoa Military Academy, then the foundation for the realization of north-south unification will be laid."

"That's right. It will take time to build our revolutionary army. Now that the North and South are united, we have too few soldiers and they have too many, so it's difficult for the North and South to be on equal footing."

Chen Tianheng: "However, President, the peaceful reunification of North and South that the Prime Minister is seeking is unlikely to be achieved. It's not that the Prime Minister and the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government are unwilling to compromise, but rather that Duan Qirui and the Beiyang Government will not compromise. Accepting the invitation to come north to discuss the reunification of North and South, and giving the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government the moral high ground, is the Prime Minister's main achievement in this trip north. I believe that a unified China still needs to be created by the Whampoa Revolutionary Army themselves."

"Yeah!"

This was precisely what Chiang Kai-shek was thinking. With Sun Yat-sen's journey north to seek unification, Chiang Kai-shek was concerned about the impact on the formation and growth of the Whampoa Military Academy and the Kuomintang army. If the North-South peace talks were successful and national disarmament began, the Whampoa clique and the Kuomintang army might be "terminated," which would be a grave threat to Chiang Kai-shek as the principal.

Chen Tianheng’s idea is exactly what I want!