Chapter 29

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

A gunshot rang out from Lv Muzhi, and the Taikoo Dock quickly became bustling.

Inside Warehouse No. 5, over two hundred Merchant Corps soldiers immediately erupted: "Who's shooting outside? Are those Guangdong Army troops chasing us?!"

"Don't be afraid, we have guns; at worst, twenty years from now we'll be heroes again!"

"You idiot, brainwashed by Chen Lianbo, right? Only half of us have guns, so why not surrender? Are you going to keep serving Chen Lianbo?"

The argument of over two hundred people soon alerted the Whampoa Student Army to the movement inside Warehouse No. 5.

Chief Instructor He Yingqin arranged for Chen Cheng and Gu Zhutong to lead the First and Second Teams of the student army to surround Warehouse No. 5; Liu Zhi's Third Team of the student army took control of the Office Building, overlooking the wharf; Chen Jicheng's Fourth Team of the student army occupied the deck of the ship at Berth No. 3, guarding the direction of Warehouse No. 5.

He Yingqin held a loudspeaker, preparing to persuade these Merchant Corps soldiers to surrender, but unexpectedly, before he could speak, the large doors of Warehouse No. 5 swung open directly, and over twenty stubborn Merchant Corps soldiers ran out with guns raised, firing as they went, clearly ill-intentioned.

The Whampoa Student Armies from all directions, seeing this situation, also fired back without hesitation.

On the roof of the Office Building, after Lv Muzhi took down the scar-faced man, his heart finally hardened.

Either you die, or I perish!

Lv Muzhi remembered the military training he received at the military academy: three points in a line, gun following the person's movement, lightly pulling the trigger, with a bang he ended the life of a Merchant Corps soldier.

The twenty-plus men who charged out were all annihilated by the Whampoa Student Armies waiting in ambush outside in less than twenty seconds.

Seeing that the effect of killing the chicken to scare the monkey had been achieved, He Yingqin walked forward again and began to persuade them to surrender.

The Merchant Corps soldiers followed Chen Lianbo, but never thought of sacrificing their lives; with the lesson of the hardliners before them, they raised their guns and surrendered one after another.

This battle attacking Taikoo Dock started quickly and ended surprisingly quickly.

In less than half an hour, over twenty Merchant Corps corpses lay on the ground, and nearly two hundred Merchant Corps soldiers surrendered their weapons.

Liu Zhi found Lv Muzhi and patted his shoulder: "Not bad, I saw it all; you killed at least two enemy soldiers in this battle. It seems you've learned the essence of my tactics!"

Among the other Whampoa students, many saw blood for the first time.

Woo~

From the east came the whistle of a warship; looking in that direction, it was the Yongfeng Warship. The Principal brought the Whampoa Military Academy's First Class students to Taikoo Dock.

"Reporting to the Principal, Instructor He Yingqin led two teams of students and successfully wiped out the Merchant Corps rebel troops stationed at Taikoo Dock!"

The Principal nodded with satisfaction, his complexion ruddy, looking very happy, and said in an extremely low voice: "Short selling Taikoo Shipping stocks went very successfully. Now, it's time to launch a full-scale attack on the Merchant Corps Army!"

He Yingqin heard the Principal's words and was also very happy. The profits from short selling stocks would not only benefit the school's funds, but as an informed person and participant, he could also gain some benefits.

A black car drove into the gate of Taikoo Dock, followed by a large group of Guangdong Army soldiers.

The car stopped steadily; first, a pair of shiny leather shoes stretched out from inside the car, followed by the refined, bespectacled face of Acting Grand Marshal Hu Hanming.

Also getting out of the car with Hu Hanming was Li Fulin, Commander of the Third Army of the Guangdong Army.

The Principal's gaze met Hu Hanming's, but Hu Hanming pretended to look elsewhere. After a while, holding the documents in his hand, he walked toward the Principal.

"You've worked hard, Principal Chang." The two shook hands symbolically.

"Where is the hardship? Worrying for the revolution is the common duty of all Whampoa teachers and students."

Hu Hanming opened the documents in his hand and said in a lukewarm tone: "Principal, there's no need to be so modest. The Grand Marshal has other arrangements for you."

Hu Hanming said this, paused, and then read from the documents:

"Hereby appointing the Principal of Whampoa Military Academy as Suppression Commander-in-Chief, authorized to command the Guangdong Army, Hunan Army, Fu Army, Guard Army, Whampoa Student Army, Workers' Self-Defense Army, Peasants' Self-Defense Army, Grand Marshal's Office Ironclad Vehicle Squadron, Practice Fleet, Aircraft Squadron, Arsenal Guard Unit, Municipal Police Force... to jointly eliminate Chen Lianbo and Chen Gongshou's Merchant-Village United Defense Rebel Army. This appointment takes effect immediately!"

Before Hu Hanming finished reading, the Principal's chest was already surging with thousands of waves. This was absolutely the most glorious moment of his life so far. In the thirty-eight years since he left his mother's womb, he had never actually commanded so many troops! Nor had he ever personally micro-managed so many units!

This meant the Principal had taken a big step toward the center of power.

Li Fulin stepped forward and saluted: "Congratulations, Principal. The Grand Marshal and Commander Xu Chongzhi will stay in Shaoguan to supervise the Northern Expedition, so they've handed this heavy burden of eliminating the Merchant Corps to you. My 'Fu Army' is also placed under your command!"

Li Fulin's Fu Army referred to the Third Army of the Guangdong Army. After the Xinhai Revolution broke out, Li Fulin raised troops in response to the Wuchang Uprising. At that time, he commanded three thousand men and was given the designation of the 'Fu' Character Battalion. Even though it is now reorganized as the Third Army of the Guangdong Army, Li Fulin still uses 'Fu Army' as a label to distinguish his troops from other units in the Guangdong Army.

However, the Principal still humbly said: "What command or no command, comrades can discuss it among themselves. By the way, where are the other troops placed under my command?"

Li Fulin knew the Principal was impatient: "Three thousand Hunan Army troops have returned from Shaoguan to defend Guangzhou, and the Whampoa Student Army First Team accompanied them. Zhang Mingda's Guangdong Army Second Division returned from Lianping and has reached the Liede area. Other units are at their respective stations, awaiting your dispatch!"

"Good! With so many troops, why worry that the Merchant Corps won't be defeated! Order all troops to gather in the Liede area and be ready to enter the city at any time!"

What no one noticed was that Acting Grand Marshal Hu Hanming had already gotten into the car at some point and had left the scene early.

Liedu Village, temporary headquarters of the Suppression Command, soldiers came and went, military personnel came and went without cease.

All units were stationed in their designated temporary quarters, awaiting the Principal's dispatch.

The Whampoa Student Army had its own temporary quarter in Liede.

Lv Muzhi had never seen such a grand scene before, and for the first time intuitively realized how chaotic the military faction organization under the Grand Marshal was.

The main forces participating in this suppression were the Hunan Army transferred back from the Northern Expedition battlefield, Zhang Mingda's Guangdong Army Second Division, and Li Fulin's Fu Army, namely the Third Army of the Guangdong Army.

The other various units were smaller in number and scale.

Taking the Grand Marshal's Office Ironclad Vehicle Squadron as an example, it had only over a hundred men. The Whampoa Student Army had only a few hundred. As for the so-called Aircraft Squadron, the Grand Marshal's Office indeed had several old propeller planes, but they wouldn't really use planes to suppress the rebellion.

Joint operations by so many units were truly a troublesome matter.

"Xiangyun! Xilian! You're back?!" Chen Geng's excited shout came from the side.

Looking in the direction of the sound, it turned out that the student team responsible for personally guarding the Grand Marshal had also returned to suppress the rebellion.

Jiang Xiangyun patted Chen Geng's shoulder. It had been a month since they last met, and he was very excited: "This is the first battle of our Whampoa Class 1. How could I leave you comrades behind and hide in Shaoguan taking it easy?"

"That's right. When we were in Shaoguan, we were either standing guard or drilling every day, it nearly stifled me. But the Grand Marshal is a very good person; he even gave our First Team students Coca-Cola to drink!"

Saying this, Song Xilian took out a dozen glass-bottled Cokes and looked at Lv Muzhi: "Brother Muzi, last time you treated Chen Geng and me to a big meal, I still remember. You haven't tried Coke yet, have you? Come, one bottle each. Where's Li Zhilong!"

Lv Muzhi took a glass-bottled Coca-Cola. This thing wasn't cheap in this era; the Grand Marshal was actually willing to buy Coke for the students.

"Quick look, Instructor Wu and Li Zhilong are back."

Those who returned were naturally not just Wu Instructor and Li Zhilong; behind them followed a large number of Workers' Self-Defense Army and Peasants' Self-Defense Army, over a thousand strong, all armed with guns.

It seemed these self-defense armies were mainly mobilized by the Worker-Peasant Faction, already established and trained for some time; the Grand Marshal surely knew about it, otherwise he would not have named these two armed forces to participate in quelling the rebellion in the telegram.

"Down with big merchant Chen Lianbo! Defend the revolution! Defend workers' rights!"

"Down with big landlord Chen Gongshou! Unite and rise up to become masters!"

The Workers' Self-Defense Army and Peasants' Self-Defense Army shouted their own slogans, their voices echoing throughout Huade Camp.

Other local troops nearby saw this scene; some laughed, some were excited, but most were indifferent.

Guangdong Army Second Division Chief of Staff Ye Jianying saw this scene and was very happy, speaking frankly to Wu Instructor: "Although the Workers' Corps Army and Peasants' Corps Army you brought wear chaotic clothing and cannot be called an army at all, in my view, the ideal goals of the entire army are highly consistent; in this Huade Camp, it should be unique. Such a force has enormous war potential in the future!"

The Principal heard the commotion and walked out of the Command Post. Seeing Wu Instructor bring another batch of people, he naturally thought it was Han Xin Commands Troops—more the better—and as Han Xin himself, he had no reason to be unhappy: "Good! All the heroes of the world are gathered for my use! Chief of Staff Ye, regarding the firepower deployment for retaking the Police Bureau, I think the Machine Gun Position needs to move five meters to the left to unleash its full power!"

Ye Jianying smiled after hearing this: "With the Principal micro-managing, defeating the Merchant Corps is only a matter of days!"