Chapter 40: Republic of China: Starting from Whampoa Phase 1 Chapter 40: Trouble Maker Qiu Qingquan

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

As the class whistle sounded, Lv Muzhi, clutching his lecture notes, walked briskly into the classroom.

A familiar classroom, unfamiliar students.

Half a month ago he had still been sitting below the lectern as a student; now his identity had flipped, and he had become a military academy instructor.

Seeing that the person entering was a young man in his early twenties, the students could not help but chatter.

"Compared to other instructors, how is this instructor so young?"

"Hey, this instructor is even younger than me; can he really handle the job of instructor?"

"Don't talk nonsense. This instructor is a senior classmate from the First Phase, and he earned military merits in the Merchant Corps Incident. Besides, among other First Phase seniors, he often tutors topography..."

"Tutoring my ass. If he wants to teach me, he at least needs to be older than me!"

Standing at the lectern, Lv Muzhi glanced at the roster on it. Today he was teaching military topography to the Whampoa Second Phase engineering students.

The students below were buzzing, clearly questioning Lv Muzhi's professional ability. The loudest was a square-faced, flat-nosed fellow who looked arrogant and unbridled.

Lv Muzhi rapped the lectern and fixed his gaze on the student speaking loudest: "Yu'an, what are you saying?"

The classroom fell silent instantly. The square-faced, flat-nosed student was puzzled—how could this instructor, whom he had never met, call out his given name directly?

Lv Muzhi walked up to the student and said unhurriedly, "Qiu Qingquan, courtesy name Yu'an, twenty-two years old, Second Phase artillery student, entrance exam ranking fifth in the Second Phase... is that you?"

"It's me!" Qiu Qingquan stood up at attention, eyes wide, thinking to himself that perhaps he was too outstanding and had caught the instructor's attention?

Lv Muzhi returned to the lectern and, starting from the first student, without any materials, directly recited each person's name, age, entrance ranking, and so on, all the way to the sixty-ninth student, every detail word for word.

The whole class was surprised by Instructor Lv Muzhi. Some engineering students could not even name all their own classmates.

But Lv Muzhi, upon their first meeting, could directly state everyone's basic information—he must have investigated the students before class.

The classroom was no longer as noisy as at the start. This at least showed that Topography Instructor Lv Muzhi had a strong memory. Someone chosen as an instructor while also serving as a platoon leader in the Training Regiment was clearly not that simple.

To teach this first class, although Lv Muzhi had not prepared lessons, he had put in another kind of hard work.

As a twenty-one-year-old instructor, Lv Muzhi knew many students were older than him. If he did not leave them a deep impression, he feared they would be hard to manage.

Lv Muzhi had already learned from the school's Teaching Department that his military topography class was for Second Phase engineering students, artillery students, and one infantry student company.

Lv Muzhi's first class was for the engineering students.

Of the sixty-plus engineering students in the class, he had obtained their entrance photographs and other written materials from the Teaching Department three days in advance and memorized each person's basic information.

Qiu Qingquan was his key focus.

"Instructor Lv's memory is indeed good, but our class topic is military topography. Instructor, please get to the topography lesson quickly—don't put the cart before the horse." Qiu Qingquan had regained his unruly character and directly reminded Lv Muzhi in class.

Lv Muzhi smiled slightly: "This is a military academy. Military topography puts 'military' first, then topography.

A general who doesn't know soldiers, and soldiers who don't know their general—that is a major taboo in military science, and the same applies in my classroom. If I don't even know your names, whose class am I teaching? And if someone mocks me from below, I don't know your name, so how can I give you a demerit? Am I right, Student Qiu Qingquan?" Lv Muzhi emphasized Qiu Qingquan's name noticeably.

Qiu Qingquan's expression clearly soured. He hadn't expected Lv Muzhi to be so serious—was he going to make an example of him first?

The tactic of killing the chicken to warn the monkey was common both in classrooms and in the army.

"But this is the first time, so I won't hold it against you. Respect teachers and value the Way, strictly observe discipline—these are the top principles in my classroom. If I come in next time and it's still a mess, I'll handle it according to school regulations. Now class begins."

Seeing that Lv Muzhi did not intend to pursue the matter, Qiu Qingquan breathed a sigh of relief, sat up straight, and wanted to see how this young instructor would teach him.

"Just as I need to learn every student's basic information before class, before military operations begin, we must have a clear understanding of the battlefield's geography. That is the significance of the school offering military topography. Please divide into groups and open the maps prepared in advance."

The school had already prepared five maps of Guangzhou City for the Second Phase military topography course.

Qiu Qingquan opened one and saw a line of small print in the lower left corner: This map drawn by Whampoa First Phase graduates Lv Muzhi and Fan Hanjie; military academy teaching material; no reproduction allowed.

"The scale of this map is 1:10000. It is the result of our Whampoa Student Army's military topography graduation exam after the Merchant Corps Incident. The survey data came from all First Phase students working personally, and the map was drawn jointly by me and my classmate Fan Hanjie. Five copies were reproduced internally for teaching use only.

At the same time, the Whampoa Student Army's exercises currently rely mainly on this map."

Qiu Qingquan looked carefully and found the map very detailed, even marking the garrisons of the Guangxi Army's Liu Zhenhuan, the Yunnan Army's Yang Ximin, and the Hunan Army's Fan Shisheng.

Clearly they were guarding against forces other than the Whampoa Army!

In the following class, Lv Muzhi taught the students how to read maps and how to judge terrain elevation through contour lines.

"The numbers on contour lines represent elevation. If contour lines bulge toward lower ground, it's a ridge; if they bulge toward higher ground, it's a valley..."

"Sparse contour lines indicate flat terrain; dense contour lines indicate rugged terrain..."

"Shougou Ridge outside Guangzhou City can overlook troops entering and leaving Guangzhou City with superior firepower... The Baiyun Mountain area has high mountains and deep forests..."

Qiu Qingquan listened quietly, taking notes in his notebook.

The theory lecture ran for two hours straight, and Qiu Qingquan filled his notebook.

Lv Muzhi glanced at Qiu Qingquan's notebook and nodded. It seemed this fellow wouldn't cause trouble anymore.

"Alright, today's theory class ends here. There is a practical class in two days. Go back and digest this theory. Another day, in the practical class, we'll look at the terrain on site and learn how to use surveying instruments and drawing techniques. Class dismissed!"

"Stand!" the squad leader shouted, and the whole class stood to see Instructor Lv off.

After class, Lv Muzhi had no time to rest; he had to rush to the Training Regiment's garrison to check the results of his platoon's afternoon self-training and find and fill gaps.

"This tunnel is dug too shallow. It's a life-saving thing—dig half a meter deeper. Put in the energy you use when farming!"

"You said to set up drainage ditches. What if you get dragged into a war of attrition and it rains? Aren't you afraid of drowning?"

"Machine gun positions should be set on the flanks, not the front. Redo it. Remember next time..."

"After these are done, dig holes in the trench side walls. I call them cat ear holes. Do them well!"

After a day of this, Lv Muzhi's mind had one word: exhausted!