The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Its name is——

"Story King".

"Huang Wei? Are you reading a geography magazine?"

Chen Tianheng discovered that because the superiors allowed everyone to relax for a few days after the war, the few people in the small classroom were reading recreational books, and only Huang Wei was concentrating on studying the "National Geographic of China" in his hand.

"Story Club is just a piece of entertainment. If you have too much free time, you can just read it," Huang Wei said without looking up. "This China National Geographic is a treasure trove."

Chen Tianheng: "I've read the first issue. It's worth a careful read. The articles are very long and contain a lot of information, covering everything from mountains and rivers to geography, history and culture, and folk customs. A lot of it is helpful to our military."

"Yes, I read the first issue, and it gave a very detailed introduction to Wuhan's climate, rainfall, soil, and mountains. Imagine if we were to fight there, do you know how difficult it would be to dig trenches in the soil? Do you know the characteristics of the mountain ranges? Are there more rocky mountains or earthen ridges? Are the rocky mountains limestone or basalt? It's a huge question."

Lu Deming: "I was wondering, no wonder the members of your first term nicknamed Huang Wei "nerd."

Chen Tianheng laughed. "A bookworm only studies and doesn't practice. Huang Wei is not only studying, he's also fighting. Besides, one can't just practice without studying. Huang Wei, you can do it."

……

The War Research Society had already gained immense prestige throughout the Whampoa Military Academy after the Merchant Corps' campaign to suppress the rebellion. After the triumphant return of the Eastern Expedition, the War Research Society's status in the military was even higher, and even those students from the second term who had been less interested in the War Research Society now applied to join.

However, the assessment remains the same and the standards are still very high.

After returning from the Eastern Expedition, Chen Tianheng realized that the second-term students of Huangpu had not attended classes properly for almost two months because of the Eastern Expedition.

By the second term of Whampoa Military Academy, the teachers and professional courses allocated to the students were still so limited, and the school system was still only a few months. Now they have not been able to attend classes properly for two months, and I am afraid that many basic common sense of officers and even non-commissioned officers have not been taught to them in time.

Then, the National Revolutionary Army followed the Soviet Red Army's example and sent these graduates who had not completed their training directly into the battlefield as consumables... This is probably one of the reasons why there were so few famous generals in the second phase of the Whampoa Military Academy.

"Chairman Chen, have you noticed that after Sun Yat-sen's death, the party activities in the military academy suddenly became active?" Lu Deming asked a question.

"Of course I noticed it," Chen Tianheng said. "Not only have the Communist Party's organizational activities become more active, but the activities of other organizations have also become more active."

……

Guangzhou.

Guangdong University.

This school was founded by Sun Yat-sen and was formed by the merger of three schools: National Guangdong Normal University, Guangdong Public Law University, and Guangdong Public Agricultural College.

After Sun Yat-sen's death, the Guangdong Revolutionary Government proposed to change the name of Guangdong University to Sun Yat-sen University.

At this moment, in a classroom used as a meeting room at Guangdong University, several people were plotting to establish a new political organization.

"The Young Military Officers' Association wasn't just an organization for young military officers. It was used as a base for the development of Communist Party organizations. They wanted to turn the Whampoa Military Academy into a Communist military academy."

The speaker was Dai Jitao, a core leader of the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek's comrade-in-arms and sex partner.

"When Brother Jieshi and I were in Japan, some people there were advocating for communism. Later, I participated in discussions at the Shanghai Party Group of the Chinese Communist Party. At that time, I conducted a detailed study of the communist program, which was more thorough and in-depth than that of many other Communists."

"Communism, wherever it spreads, brings disaster. Mr. Sun's collaboration with the Soviet Union and tolerance of communism are unavoidable. The Kuomintang has nothing and must find someone willing to pay for it. But ultimately, we must adhere to Mr. Sun's Three Principles of the People and not be harmed by communism."

"Brother Dai is absolutely right."

Wu Tiecheng, Director of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, expressed his views.

"We must separate the Three Principles of the People from their inextricable entanglement with communism, make them independent, and emphasize their local origins and the primacy of national independence."

Dai Jitao: "I have wanted to do this for a long time. We must openly promote our own politics, just like the Communist Party, and call the Premier's theory Sun Yat-senism. Of course, the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party must continue. We are indeed not opposed to communism, but we must openly and clearly state that we want to study the Three Principles of the People, that is, Sun Yat-senism. Will those who study Marx join us? No."

Wu Tiecheng: "Right, right, right. This way we can draw a chasm between ourselves and the Marxists. You do your thing, I do mine, like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their own unique abilities."

Dai Jitao: "Using organization to fight organization is the only viable method. The organization I want to establish will focus on Whampoa students, and in the future it will expand to the whole country to provide political education to young people across the country."

Zhang Zhizhong: "Brother Dai, if we were to establish a Sun Yat-senist research society among Whampoa students, could you guarantee that Whampoa teachers and students would join at the beginning? As the saying goes, the beginning is always the hardest."

"Of course!" Dai Jitao said, "You know Wang Bo-ling, he was once the director of the Huangpu Professorial Department. I became friends with him when I was the director of the Political Department. We have similar political interests."

"There are also Chen Ce and Miao Bin, both of whom are instructors from Huangpu."

"And there's Chen Tianheng! He's an outstanding Whampoa student who's deeply trusted by Chiang Kai-shek and made great contributions during the Eastern Expedition!"

Chapter 62

Dai Jitao was the behind-the-scenes planner, and several Kuomintang bigwigs and Whampoa instructors supported him, and the Sun Yat-sen Society was established.

As a political organization of the right wing of the Kuomintang, the purpose of establishing the Sun Yat-sen Society was to compete with the Young Military Officers Association.

But what does it mean that the vice president of the Young Military Personnel Association is among the first batch of core members?

...Well, this is what Chiang Kai-shek meant.

The Communist Party was allowed to operate legally within the Whampoa Military Academy, and of course, openly. Therefore, all students who joined the Communist Party at the Whampoa Military Academy would publicly find a classroom with a party flag and take the oath.

From the time he entered school to his graduation, and up to now, Chen Tianheng has never sworn in as a Communist Party member in front of the hammer and sickle flag in any dormitory or classroom under the introduction of a Communist instructor, so Chen Tianheng is not a Communist.

Since he was not a Communist but a member of the Kuomintang, had made many military achievements, and got along very well with the principal, he would definitely be recommended to his best friends to join the Sun Yat-sen Society.

After listening to Chiang Kai-shek's words, Dai Jitao privately asked Chen Tianheng and got an accurate answer, so Chen Tianheng became one of the first members of the Sun Yat-sen Society when it was founded.

……

"There's no traitor. Now the three of us can talk."

In Chen Geng's ward at Guangzhou Boji Hospital, Chen Tianheng and Jiang Xianyun, who were visiting, asked the nurse to leave temporarily, locked the door, and chatted with Chen Geng.

Chen Geng: "Chen Tianheng, have you really joined the Sun Yat-sen Society?"

"Yes, yes, it's hard to refuse the principal's kindness."

Chen Geng: "This is great! The Sun Yat-sen Society is going to be in turmoil."

Chen Tianheng: "Maybe we'll even fight each other with our left and right hands, but I need to consult Secretary Mao and get his permission before I can do that. How's your injury healing now?"

"The wound is a little itchy, and flesh is growing back," Chen Geng said. "It's just a little itchy, tolerable. But the doctor said my lungs are damaged, so I can't smoke for three years."

Chen Tianheng: "You should have quit smoking."

Don't be fooled by the portrayal of brigade commanders in various film and television dramas. Chen Geng was once a heavy smoker. In the middle of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, his old partner Zhou Xihan fell seriously ill and was told by doctors to quit smoking. To encourage Zhou Xihan, also a heavy smoker, Chen Geng quit with him. Eventually, both the "Smoking Brigade Commander" and the "Smoking Chief of Staff" quit smoking.

Jiang Xianyun: "After the injury, your lung capacity will be reduced, right? Have you asked the doctor if there will be any problems with running and jumping in the future?"

"The doctor said that cardiopulmonary function will gradually recover and eventually reach pre-injury levels, and the same goes for exercise capacity. However, after being discharged from the hospital, avoid strenuous exercise and gradually increase the amount over a one-month period. Hey, is Secretary Mao really coming to Guangzhou?"

……

"Chen Geng was seriously injured. I only found out after arriving in Guangzhou. Fortunately, nothing serious happened. But you two should be careful too. Bullets don't have eyes on the battlefield."

Chen Tianheng: "During the battle, I tried to minimize the casualties of the entire battalion, especially to avoid unnecessary casualties. However, in a battle like the Eastern Expedition, casualties were unavoidable, especially in the Mianhu Battle. The Whampoa Military Academy troops were forced into a desperate situation and had no choice but to fight to the death."

Jiang Xianyun: "The fighting at Mianhu was fierce, but the First Battalion ultimately avoided a large-scale hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Ultimately, 40 percent of the officers and men were killed or wounded, but if you deduct the wounded, the number of casualties was only a few dozen."

In a blink of an eye, Mao Runzhi, Chen Tianheng and their trio had not seen each other for more than half a year.

In the past six months, Mao Runzhi was actually "exiled" by the central government after the Fourth National Congress.

He returned to Changsha from Shanghai without attending the Fourth National Congress. The Secretary of the Changsha Provincial Party Committee had already been handed over to Chen Wangdao. Mao Runzhi's only positions were Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Member of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang.

By the way, the position of KMT Central Executive Committee member was because of the Third National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the First National Congress of the KMT. The Central Committee members of the Third National Congress of the Communist Party of China automatically became KMT Central Executive Committee members. But when Mao Zedong was no longer a Central Committee member of the Communist Party of China at the Fourth National Congress, the KMT still retained Mao Zedong's Central Executive Committee member status.

The main reason for this is that the current three giants of the Kuomintang: Wang Jingwei, Liao Zhongkai, and Hu Hanmin, all admired Mao Runzhi's abilities and his achievements in organizing the peasant movement.

It was Wang Jingwei's suggestion that Mao Runzhi return to Guangzhou from Shaoshan. He appointed Mao Runzhi as the Minister of Propaganda of the Kuomintang Central Committee.

"This is an article I published in Peasant Movement," Mao Runzhi emphasized, "a magazine published by the Kuomintang."

Chen Tianheng took the magazine and glanced at it. "Secretary Mao, did Wang Jingwei or Liao Zhongkai also read this article beforehand?"

"Yes."

The article is not long, but it is enough to clearly explain Mao Runzhi's point of view.

The whole text argues that landlords are the main obstacle to China's revolution and change, while peasants are the main tools of revolutionary change.

Even today, many people, even within the revolutionary party, still fail to understand that in an economically backward, semi-colonial, semi-feudal society, the primary target of revolution is the rural patriarchal feudal class.

"This class is the only solid foundation of the ruling class at home and of imperialism abroad. Without shaking this foundation, it is absolutely impossible to shake the superstructure of this foundation."

"China's warlords are merely the leaders of these rural feudal classes. To talk about overthrowing the warlords without reaching the rural feudal classes is to be ignorant of the importance of both the primary and secondary."

"China's urban workers, students, and small and medium-sized merchants should rise up and strike hard at the comprador class and directly confront imperialism. The progressive working class, especially the leadership of all revolutionary classes, must lead the way. However, unless the peasants rise up in the countryside and overthrow the privileges of the patriarchal feudal landlord class, the warlord and imperialist forces will never be completely overthrown."

Chen Tianheng was not unfamiliar with the text of this article, but what he learned from Mao Runzhi was that Wang Jingwei agreed with or at least did not oppose the views of this article. This was information that Chen Tianheng did not know before he traveled through time.

In this light, Wang Jingwei's subsequent 180-degree, no, 540-degree turn in his stance also seemed quite magical.

Mao Zedong's article actually anticipated many of the events that would follow the Northern Expedition. The Northern Expedition might have been victorious, but without thorough land reform as an accompanying measure, the victorious Northern Expedition would have given rise to a new generation of warlords, including the New Guangxi Clique, the New Yunnan Army, and the Shanxi Army.

Because the leaders of these Northern Expedition armies represented the rural feudal classes in various provinces or regions, separatist tendencies were inevitable.

Of course, the new generation of warlords may be slightly improved compared to the warlords of the Beiyang period and less abstract, but they can still be essentially classified into the same category.

This was the regime that Chiang Kai-shek had won with so much hardship. Or perhaps it could be said that Chiang Kai-shek himself was one of these warlords.

China, which has suffered from wars in modern times, has experienced another war, but the regime it obtained is like this.

"Secretary Mao, this Eastern Expedition did not completely defeat Chen Jiongming."

"I've also seen detailed reports from the Kuomintang Central Committee on the progress of this Eastern Expedition over the past few days. The Yunnan and Guangxi armies disobeyed orders. These two warlord-backed armies weren't particularly enthusiastic about Sun Yat-sen's National Revolution. In particular, the military leaders didn't act from the perspective of Sun Yat-sen and the Three Principles of the People, but only considered their own selfish interests."

"Otherwise, the Eastern Expedition Army could have defeated Chen Jiongming in one fell swoop."

Chen Tianheng: "Anvil and hammer?"

Mao Runzhi: "Yes, when you attacked Danshui, the Yunnan Army and Chen Jiongming's army were sitting in silence. The Yunnan Army did not attack, and the Lin Hu army under Chen Jiongming was the same, not daring to attack or retreat. If you capture Danshui and Hailufeng, you can march north and encircle the remnants of Chen Jiongming's 1st and 2nd Armies in Huizhou, Longmen, and Heyuan. This is not Chen Jiongming's old territory. His troops have no ruling base here. If they are besieged for a long time, they will only die."

Jiang Xianyun: "It is estimated that in a few months, the National Revolutionary Army will launch a second Eastern Expedition."

Mao Runzhi shook his head. "Before the Second Eastern Expedition, the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government must first deal with Yang Ximin's Yunnan Army and Liu Zhenhuan's Guangxi Army, which have been ineffective and even counterproductive during this Eastern Expedition. These two commanders must be removed from their posts and their forces thoroughly reorganized. Otherwise, the Second Eastern Expedition will fail to achieve its goals."

Chen Tianheng nodded.

They cannot be dismissed. If Sun Yat-sen had not died, he might have removed these two people from their posts. But now Wang Jingwei's appeal is much lower than Sun Yat-sen's, so he cannot be dismissed.

However, the good news is that in a month or two, the troops of Yang Ximin and Liu Zhenhuan will launch a rebellion, and this rebellion will be suppressed in an instant. These two armies that have been squatting in Guangzhou, eating food and taking money but doing nothing will eventually be absorbed by the National Revolutionary Army.

"Secretary Mao, Chiang Kai-shek strongly recommended that I join the Sun Yat-sen Research Society. Now the society has been established, and they are planning to change its name to the Sun Yat-sen Society."

Mao Runzhi: "That's good."

Chen Tianheng: "I've taken a look at the current members of the Sun Yat-sen Research Society. They're all pretty bad. Not only are they heavily right-leaning politically, but there aren't many talented people. I think my main job and purpose after I join them will be to let them fall into chaos."

"No, Chen Tianheng, your purpose in the Sun Yat-sen Society is not to discover and recruit talents, but to influence others through it."

Chapter 63

The victory of the Eastern Expedition greatly boosted the morale of the Guangzhou National Revolutionary Army and made the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government admired by the people of Guangdong and even the whole country.

After the triumphant return of the Eastern Expedition, the Third Training Regiment of the Whampoa Military Academy began to be formed, and the Fourth and Fifth Training Regiments were also being planned. The rifles captured from the Eastern Expedition were enough to equip three regiments, but there were not enough officers and non-commissioned officers to strengthen the troops. This could only be done by the third batch of Whampoa students who would enter the school in July.

As training regiments continued to be established, the Whampoa Military Academy Army also established the First Brigade of the Party Army, which was composed of the First and Second Training Regiments. It is estimated that after the Third Training Regiment was established, the First Brigade of the Party Army would be upgraded to the First Division of the Party Army.

Chiang Kai-shek concurrently served as commander of the First Brigade of the Party Army, though this position was likely only temporary. According to the latest plan of the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government, the revolutionary army would be unified and its regional designations would be abolished. The First Army would be the Whampoa Military Academy Army. Tan Yankai's former Jianguo Xiang Army would be redesignated the Second Army, the Jianguo Dian Army the Third Army, the Jianguo Yue Army the Fourth Army, and so on. Chiang Kai-shek had naturally set his sights on the commander of the First Army.

However, as the revolutionary situation grew, the overt and covert struggles within the Kuomintang and between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party became increasingly fierce.

After Sun Yat-sen's death, the question of who would inherit his political power became a major concern for both parties. By mid-1925, the KMT was structured so that Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin, and Liao Zhongkai were jointly in charge, with Wang Jingwei as the top leader.

Hu Hanmin was quite dissatisfied with this, but because Wang Jingwei and Liao Zhongkai were both left-wing members of the Kuomintang and were pro-Soviet, the three-person group had a 2-1 advantage and Hu Hanmin could not move.

...Ah, where's Chiang Kai-shek? Sorry, the KMT still has a party-control-gun structure, and it hasn't reversed yet. President Chiang, you're at most fourth in command.

The Sun Yat-sen Doctrine Research Society (Sun Yat-sen Doctrine Society) was established after Sun Yat-sen's death with the joint support of Kuomintang (KMT) leaders (left, center, and right). The society's purpose was to summarize and refine Sun Yat-sen's decades of writings into a systematic Sun Yat-sen Doctrine. However, the left hoped to refine Sun Yat-sen Doctrine into a revolutionary theory parallel to socialism, while the right hoped to use Sun Yat-sen Doctrine Society to combat communism.

However, after the establishment of the Sun Yat-sen Society, it quickly became a youth organization that was diametrically opposed to the Communist Party, and all the hopes of the Kuomintang left were dashed.

...Since it's a tit-for-tat confrontation, Chen Tianheng will just play some role-playing in it.

"Tianheng, have you read my 'The Foundations of Sun Yat-sen's Philosophy'? What are your thoughts?"

Dai Jitao asked a question.

The biggest difference between the Sun Yat-sen Society and the Youth Army Society was that its leadership was supported by a group of Kuomintang (KMT) leaders, while the Youth Army Society's day-to-day operations were actually led by Jiang Xianyun and several Whampoa Military Academy graduates. Dai Jitao was the mastermind behind the Sun Yat-sen Society, while its frontline leaders were Xie Chi and Zhang Ji, both veteran KMT officials.

"I was so busy with school military work that I only read the first part," Chen Tianheng said. "The part about nationalism really resonated with me. Of the Three Principles of the People, nationalism comes first, and the purpose of nationalism is to save the nation. To revive the Chinese nation, we must first revive the self-confidence of Chinese national culture. And national self-confidence stems from the nation's glorious history, and this history creates a spontaneous cohesive force."

Dai Jitao: "Exactly. I ended this chapter with this question and answer: 'What ethnic group are you?' 'I am the Chinese nation.' China is one nation, not one divided into this or that nation. There is only one nation."

Chen Tianheng: "But, Director Dai, with all due respect, most of the members of the Sun Yat-sen Society have failed to grasp these principles and only know how to express their emotions. Yesterday, the Whampoa Military Academy invited university youth to a symposium, and people on both sides started fighting. There is also the Sun Yat-sen Society's journal, "National Revolutionary

"The Revolution" is full of stories about Lenin having syphilis and so on. It's just groundless, and the article doesn't even have a clear grammar.

Dai Jitao: "That's a bit of a problem. Politics requires style."

Chen Tianheng: "I agree with this."

……