Chapter 504

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Lv Muzhi's firm stance brought the atmosphere on the wharf to a freezing point.

Song Zhiwen stared at the supply crates painted with "US" characters, his chest heaving.

Lv Muzhi was determined not to let the Central Government get its hands on this—truly outrageous.

He wanted to leave no profit margin at all for Song Zhiwen and the great family behind him!

"Weiyue, doing this puts me in a difficult position," Song Zhiwen gritted his teeth, attempting a last struggle.

Lv Muzhi ignored him completely: "If it's difficult, don't do it. If you won't do as I say, let these things rot in my warehouse."

Seeing the atmosphere was too stiff, Liu Zhi hurriedly patted Song Zhiwen's shoulder, then walked over to Lv Muzhi.

"Alright, alright, it's all for the Party and State, why make things so unpleasant?"

Liu Zhi laughed heartily, turning to look at Lv Muzhi: "Weiyue, the re-equipping of the Central Expeditionary Army will be done as you say."

"As for Du Guangting's side, I'll send a telegram asking him to personally lead people to Kunming to receive the equipment—is that alright?"

A smile appeared on Lv Muzhi's face: "Comrade Liu understands the bigger picture; I fully agree."

"I, Lv Weiyue, have no other meaning—I just don't want these hard-won Lend-Lease Materials to appear on the black market!"

These words were laced with barbs, leaving Song Zhiwen's complexion alternating between green and white.

Song Zhiwen knew staying here would only be boring, so he could only admit defeat: "Hmph! Since General Liu has already agreed, I have nothing to say."

"I should return to the country to report back. Gentlemen, I take my leave."

After speaking, Song Zhiwen directly got into the car with his attendants and drove away in a cloud of dust.

Watching Song Zhiwen's car disappear into the dust, Liu Zhi shook his head helplessly.

"Weiyue, they say the older one gets, the steadier one becomes, but you're doing the opposite—the older you get, the more straightforward you are."

"You're becoming less and less like your formerly humble self, giving Minister Song no face at all."

Lv Muzhi made a gesture of invitation: "Hey, let's not talk about this."

"Comrade Liu, we haven't seen each other for a long time. Let me do my best as a host."

"Come, I'll first take you around Hanoi City."

Liu Zhi nodded in agreement: "Alright, but don't call me Comrade Liu anymore. How could I possibly be your superior now..."

The train traveled smoothly along the railway toward Hanoi City, Liu Zhi leaning back in his seat, gazing out the window.

On both sides of the railway were orderly plantations and fields, farmers working in the fields, sweating profusely.

Approaching the city, distant chimneys belched white smoke, and the rumbling textile mills and simple machinery processing plants were in operation.

The train stopped at the station, and everyone transferred to automobiles.

At an open-air warehouse outside the train station, piles of tungsten sand were being loaded onto ships, transported via the Red River to Haiphong Port.

These tungsten sands were strategic resources mined from Gannan and Guangxi of Xia Guo.

Part of the tungsten sand was exported to the United States, and part was used for local production in Hanoi.

"This place is developing quite well. I think it's much better than Hankou," Liu Zhi remarked with feeling.

Lv Muzhi pointed at these tungsten sands: "Not bad, right? Comrade Liu, are you willing to invest here? Believe me, there's a good chance your principal could double."

Liu Zhi thought for a moment: "Haha, let's see... let's see..."

The car drove through bustling streets and finally entered a heavily guarded military camp.

The sentries saw Lv Muzhi's motorcade and immediately stood at attention, their movements neat and uniform.

The soldiers rendered a standard rifle salute and shouted in rising and falling tones:

"Tuan! Jie!"

Liu Zhi was stunned. He had never heard this slogan in the Youth Army, let alone in the Central Army.

Judging by the uniforms, these soldiers were not from the Youth Army.

Judging by the slogan, the words they had just shouted were in Chinese.

"Unity?" Liu Zhi asked doubtfully.

Lv Muzhi explained lightly: "This is the 'Party Army' of Zhongnan State, designated as the First Division of the Zhongnan State Army, the most powerful armed force of the Unity Party."

The motorcade entered the camp.

Liu Zhi pricked up his ears and indeed found that the training commands within the camp were all in authentic Chinese.

"Left-right-left! Left-right-left!"

"One-two-one! One-two-one!"

"Atten—tion!"

Liu Zhi looked at those Southeast Asian faces in surprise: "This... the soldiers of Zhongnan State can all speak Chinese?"

Lv Muzhi led him toward the drill ground: "They speak a little. Since they take the Youth Army as their model, they naturally learn everything from us, language included."

"The salute slogan of the First Division, namely the two words 'Unity' you just heard, was coined by me. Literally, it means unity!"

"The more than ten thousand soldiers of the First Division practice killing skills by day and study Chinese and political programs by night..."

After hearing this, Liu Zhi nodded repeatedly.

On the drill ground in the distance, a Youth Army lieutenant colonel stood on high ground with hands on his hips, shouting at a group of soldiers below.

"Pay attention to tactical movements!"

"No retreating allowed!"

That lieutenant colonel's voice was hoarse — it was Lin Yi of the Youth Army, Lieutenant Colonel Lin Yi, and he was clearly very dissatisfied with these Zhongnan State recruits' comprehension.

At that moment, a Youth Army colonel led over ten officers in large strides, waving at those up high.

"Lin Yi, come down first! Lu Commander is here for an inspection!" the shouter called out.

The one shouting was Colonel Long Wenzhang, followed by his confidant Major Meng Fan and a group of junior officers.

Long Wenzhang quickly came before Lv Muzhi and rendered a military salute.

"Reporting to Lu Commander! Former regimental commander of the 38th Regiment, 13th Division of the Youth Army, Long Wenzhang, reports to you with all members of the regimental staff, awaiting your instructions!"

Lv Muzhi swept his gaze over this group of subordinates, then walked down from the jeep with relief and raised his hand to return their salute.

"You've worked hard. Teaching this bunch of new recruits to fight here isn't easy, is it?"

Long Wenzhang hadn't even had time to wipe his sweat before hurriedly reporting: "Weapons and tactics are easy to drill; with our instructors watching, no major mistakes will occur. Just take it step by step — it only needs time."

"The key is building the force. Now every company, battalion, and regiment has Youth Army political instructors, training officers, and supervisors assigned, leading the First Division's cadres and soldiers in learning tactics, learning the New Program, and strengthening unity."

"All of this is to prepare for the Japanese Army's impending large-scale offensive!"

The long-silent Liu Zhi, upon hearing the Unity Party's New Program, couldn't help but interject.

"Wei Yue, I heard this Unity Party program was also put together with your help? Nationalism, democracy, people's livelihood..."

"This sounds almost exactly like our own program."

Liu Zhi's expression was somewhat dazed, as if recalling the Northern Expedition Revolutionary Army of over ten years ago.

"It's been over ten years since the Whampoa military was founded; I never expected to see some shadows of those days here."

"I heard you also carried out land redistribution here?"

Lv Muzhi looked at this old commander: "Commander Liu, although the program's content is similar, the actual implementation is quite different."

"Sometimes I wonder if that revolution back then probably died over ten years ago."

These words made Liu Zhi's complexion change drastically; he opened his mouth but could not speak.

But Lv Muzhi had no intention of stopping: "What the old man is unwilling to do, or rather what he simply cannot do, I want to try again."

Liu Zhi was stunned for a long while, then as if scalded, waved his hands repeatedly, his tone full of terror.

"Wei Yue! How can you think like that! You are..."

"The old man may have his shortcomings, the great family may have embezzled a bit, and the domestic situation may be somewhat complex, but you can't think that way!"

Liu Zhi grew more annoyed the more he spoke, looking at this former most outstanding subordinate before him, suddenly feeling he was somewhat strange.

"I'm tired; I won't eat."

"Please make sure to secure the equipment of the Central Expeditionary Army."

Liu Zhi left the camp as if fleeing in disgrace, leaving only Long Wenzhang and the others looking at one another.