The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 259 Training the Guizhou Army
In the gendarmerie headquarters, several gendarmerie captains stood aside with their eyes wide open and their expressions were not very good. In front of them, the acting commander of the 103rd Division, He Shaozhou, was asking General Xiao to fight with excitement, and He Wei, who was secretly happy in his heart, pretended to be expressionless and stood behind He Shaozhou, waiting for General Xiao's decision.

"Sir, it is inevitable that the enemy will attack our position. We should concentrate all available forces and teach them a lesson. Although my division has suffered a lot, it can still be pulled up and fought. Coupled with several military police regiments, Battalion Commander He's special agent battalion, tanks and artillery units, we actually have quite a lot of power at our disposal. I personally support Battalion Commander He's annihilation war plan."

He Shaozhou waved his hands as he spoke, with the word "battle" written all over his face. When the military police commanders heard that He Shaozhou was going to drag his troops into the water, they were all shocked, except He Wei who laughed secretly from behind.

After listening to He Shaozhou's impassioned speech, General Xiao felt helpless. What he was facing now was the choice between conservative defensive tactics and bold annihilation tactics. Although General Xiao still had doubts about He Shaozhou's request for a battle, he still had doubts. It’s not good to refuse directly.

After all, firstly, it was hard to reject such an aggressive attitude of seeking war. Secondly, He Shaozhou was the nephew of Minister He of the Ministry of Military Affairs, so it was hard not to give others face.

Moreover, General Xiao has been in the officialdom for many years, and he also knows that He Shaozhou's active petition for war is not as simple as it seems on the surface. In fact, He Wei, who was secretly laughing behind He Shaozhou's back, also noticed that although He Shaozhou had previously served as a general of the Central Army. The commander-in-chief of the army, but so far, he does not have any basic troops, nor does he fully control an army.

Even the speed of his promotion is inconsistent with his status as a first-year student in Huangpu and his relationship network where his uncle is Minister He of the Ministry of Military Affairs.

General Xiao and He Wei actually vaguely guessed that he was so eager to seek war, kill the enemy and serve the country, and training the troops naturally accounted for most of the proportion, but other than that, he was afraid of establishing prestige, gaining military exploits, and seizing the troops. Indispensable.

It can also be said that what He Shaozhou is looking for now is an opportunity to make military exploits and control an army. If He Shaozhou controls an army, the direct beneficiary is Minister He of the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs who is standing behind him. In short, The water in here is very deep.

As a result, it was even more difficult for General Xiao to veto He Shaozhou's proposal.

After pondering for a moment, General Xiao finally said to He Shaozhou: "Your attitude towards war is very positive, which is good, but after all, we have to take the overall situation into consideration, so we might as well adopt a compromise strategy to prepare your troops for battle. , deploy in advance near the position of the 48th Division, and when the Japanese army launches the attack, we will see how we fight based on the actual situation?"

"Of course, the gendarmerie shouldn't get involved. The order in the rear, the treatment of wounded soldiers, and the people crossing the river all need to be managed by the gendarmerie. Moreover, the gendarmerie is not good at regular field operations, and it is not useful to use it in such large-scale field attacks and defenses. Suitable."

After hearing what General Xiao said, several military police commanders first let out a long breath, and their faces visibly changed from pig liver color to refreshed. General Xiao took them out with just one sentence. It can be said that several people were granted amnesty.

He Shaozhou, on the other hand, was thoughtful, and finally nodded, stood at attention and saluted General Xiao and said: "I just lost my temper, or Commander Xiao's tactics are more secure."

General Xiao waved his hand nonchalantly: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I know that your Huangpu students are full of energy. It was precisely because of your energy that you were able to conquer the Eastern and Northern Expeditions. This is good, but we can't be quick after all. We still have to judge based on the enemy's situation. You go down and prepare first. When the Japanese army comes, we will make specific decisions."

"Yes!"

He Shaozhou respectfully saluted General Xiao, then a smile appeared on his face and said: "Sir, I have a small request."

General Xiao heard this and said curiously: "Oh? Tell me? I don't have anything to give you here. I do have ammunition and supplies, but you don't want to make such a solemn request, right?"

He Shaozhou glanced at He Wei: "I want to borrow this little brother of mine. I see that he has been advising military aircraft at your place. He is almost your staff officer. But I want to reorganize and train the troops. It is also necessary." We are stationed there, and we don’t have much time, so we must have capable people to help. No, I just want to send He Wei over to help.”

"What's the matter? Just take him over. Your division has fought many battles and suffered a lot of losses. There are not enough officers. It really needs to be reorganized. This guy He Wei is very good at combat and training. You guys He is considered a member of the family, and Minister He has also promoted him, so it is appropriate for him to help you reorganize the army now, so go ahead."

General Xiao said generously, and immediately He Shaozhou laughed and saluted General Xiao again. Then, he pulled the confused He Wei and left the military police headquarters.

General Xiao watched the two men go away, and shook his head helplessly, thinking that although he had proposed a compromise plan, that is, making lower plans based on the actual situation during the Japanese attack, but seeing the two good men He Wei and He Shaozhou As the militants walked together, General Xiao had a vague hunch that the upcoming battle around the 48th Division's positions would most likely develop in the direction of He Wei's dangerous move.

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After being pulled out of the Military Police Headquarters by He Shaozhou, He Wei quickly adjusted his mentality. Whether it was the annihilation battle he expected or the conservative plan to hold on, he would need to invest in strong troops, and among the reserves of the Jinling Garrison, The only serious field force was He Shaozhou's 103rd Division. In any case, this force needed to be retrained.

After all, it is the only one that can be used, and it has to be pulled up whether it is gold or scrap metal.

The position of the 103rd Division was adjacent to the Secret Service Battalion and not far from the Military Police Headquarters. Therefore, after the two walked out of the Military Police Headquarters, they slowly walked towards the hidden position of the 103rd Division.

Perhaps because he first wanted to have a private and private conversation with He Wei, after walking not far away, He Shao Zhou Ping withdrew his own guards, leaving only one personal guard behind. He Wei also only had the messenger Tao Heiwa accompanying him. .

On the way, He Shaozhou spoke first, jokingly saying to He Wei: "Brother He, you have to help me this time. The 103rd Division must be reorganized and retrained. You said before that once I need to reorganize the troops, You will definitely help me, but now it seems that I am afraid it will be ahead of schedule, and I will have to use yours."

"I haven't said this. I will try my best, but the war is imminent. We don't have much time. I'm afraid we can't do this. We can only start from the top and reorganize your division, sir. Now that’s all we can do.”

He Wei said. He Shaozhou also nodded in agreement and looked in the direction of the hidden position of the 103rd Division. He seemed worried and expected to say to He Wei: "I won't hide from you anymore. Alas, this division is In the Guizhou Army, I am currently the deputy division commander and act as the division commander. Personally, I want to take control of an army immediately. Of course, my uncle also agrees with this. After all, in the national army, you also We all understand that everyone wants to capture the troops. My uncle takes this very lightly and has never captured the troops. But this is a rare opportunity. If you can control an army, how can you let it go easily? Master me. Teacher, he is actually very supportive."

He Wei agreed and said: "Yes, isn't that what our national army is like? You must seize the troops, seize the barrels of the guns, and only when you are the chief officer can you speak forcefully. Of course, this is all for senior cadres, but Minister He has always been a kind-hearted person and is known for his integrity. Prestige and moral standing are convincing, and there are many disciples and old officials in the army. In fact, there is no need to capture the troops. There are people who work for the minister. Besides, as the minister of military and political affairs, there is no need to fight for the control of one division and one army. From this point of view, It’s normal to be weak.”

Indeed, compared to He Shaozhou's second uncle, the current Minister of Military and Political Affairs, Chen Cixiu, a civil engineering chief who often annexes other troops and is keen on cultivating his own power, he is as good as heaven and earth, and does not grasp the troops at all. , but relying on his qualifications as the first batch of tactical instructors at Whampoa Military Academy and his loyalty to move among various factions, with a complete image of a good old man.

Both the Central Army and the local army respect him and he is very popular among all the troops.

He Shaozhou continued: "Having said that, it is always better to be able to control an army. To be honest, this Guizhou army is absolutely terrible. I strongly support the annihilation war plan you proposed, and I also want to give my men this first The 103rd Division is going to shuffle the cards!"

At the end, He Shaozhou's eyes flashed with fierceness. He Wei realized something and asked: "Sir, do you mean to have a bloody battle to remove the unrest in the army?"

"That's right! Now the local troops in Guizhou have been completely decomposed by our central government and have begun the process of centralization. However, this process is not smooth. There is still a mixed bag of good and bad in the army. There are many bad elements interfering with the centralization process and combat effectiveness of the army. improvement.”

He Shaozhou said, and then informed He Wei of some situations within the Guizhou Army troops and the 103rd Division.

It turned out that since the five divisions of the Guizhou Army were annexed by the central government, although the nominal Guizhou Army no longer existed, Wang Jialie, who once was in charge of Guizhou Province, was forcibly "recommended" to study at Army University.

However, the intricate human network system it left behind still remains among the various divisions of the former Guizhou Army. These people are still hostile to centralization, and the same is true for the 103rd Division.

Although this division has begun to be centralized, and some Huangpu students have successively joined the division, but overall, the personnel of the division are still dominated by former Guizhou Army personnel, and they have shown great xenophobia, even if He Shaozhou himself is from Guizhou People, after all, carry the color of the center, so they also suffered a lot of flaws.

Even though his second uncle is the current Minister of Military and Political Affairs, He, and Minister He also served as an instructor and director of education at the Guizhou Lecture Hall, those die-hard officers still do not give up the favor of his nephew, Commander He Shaozhou!

Even in the past few days of the Xiaguan Defense Circle, although He Shaozhou had acted as the deputy division commander, many of the orders issued by him were still unable to be implemented, and he could not command many units.

This was intolerable to He Shaozhou, or any military commander.

Then, He Wei also realized that He Shaozhou fought this battle not only to train the troops, but also to use this battle to cleanse the die-hards in the 103rd Division who disobeyed orders, and this cleansing, on the contrary, It's better to say that it was a bloodbath with real swords and guns from the Japanese!
After He Wei reacted, he felt a chill behind him.

This is a cruel factional struggle!
For He Shaozhou, these die-hard officers were a thorn in the side that had to be removed. During the battles of the 103rd Division in Jiangyin and other places, the division commander took the chief of staff and a regiment commander and ran away with oil on their feet. The anecdote is enough to illustrate how bad the division's officer personnel problem is.

Of course, this factor of factional struggle is only part of the problem. What is more serious than the factional struggle is the combat effectiveness problem of the 103rd Division.

He Shaozhou told He Wei that the 103rd Division still retains many bad habits of the Guizhou Army troops, the most serious of which is smoking. In the long-term domestic melee, the Guizhou Army has always been known for its poor combat effectiveness, and therefore won the title of Sheep The nickname of the army and the double spearmen.

Among them, the nickname of the Double Lancers even surpasses the nickname of the Sheep Army. The so-called Double Lancers of the Guizhou Army are soldiers holding a firearm in one hand and a smoking pole in the other. If they are not in good spirits during the battle, , just lift up the cigarette pole and take a few puffs, then you can cheer up and go into battle.

On the contrary, if there is no cigarette and no smoking, one will be sluggish and even defeated.

Although the 103rd Division had been reorganized before setting off from Guizhou Province, the habit of smoking was still very serious. Although Acting Division Commander He Shaozhou later tried to solve the problem, he had to give orders at a discount and wanted to eradicate them drastically. The 103rd Division's accumulated shortcomings are even more difficult to deal with.

Therefore, if He Shaozhou wants to achieve his goal, he will need external help, and He Wei is undoubtedly the best helper.

Of course, in addition to He Wei, this external force also includes the Japanese.

In the coming bloody battle, the 103rd Division, which is filled with all kinds of devils and imps, as well as all kinds of bad habits and long-standing abuses, will be further baptized by Japanese bullets and artillery fire, baptized with iron and blood. .

When the 103rd Division hardens up and fights hard in the bloody battles ahead, this unit will be transformed from beginning to end.

Similarly, the die-hards in the 103rd Division will also be physically baptized and eliminated by the Japanese using physical means in the bloody battle.

(End of this chapter)