Chapter 77: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 77: Swearing in the Troops for the Northern Expediti

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

In early May, the vanguard of the Northern Expedition Army advanced toward Hunan.

Before the Northern Expedition Oath Assembly could be held, Tang Shengzhi's Hunan Army of the Eighth Army was defeated by warlord Wu Peifu, and the Northern Expedition Army Headquarters had no choice but to send Li Jishen's Fourth Army and Li Zongren's Seventh Army to assist Tang Shengzhi, opening the curtain of the Northern Expedition ahead of schedule.

As for the other armies, they were still making preparations before the expedition.

Lv Muzhi's Supplementary Regiment had only trained for one month.

His subordinates Du Yuming and others hurriedly rushed along, pushing the training progress hard, fearing that the formal Northern Expedition would begin the next day.

But Lv Muzhi was not in a hurry; the formal Northern Expedition would not begin until July, and he still had two months of preparation time.

"Senior Classmate! What are you doing?" Qiu Qingquan wanted to break free from Lv Muzhi's hand, but found that this senior classmate's strength was far greater than he had imagined.

"Nothing. You're already a company commander of the Engineer Company, aren't you? I want to borrow a few engineers from you." Lv Muzhi gritted his teeth and pulled him toward the Engineer Company's station.

"Borrow people? Do you have a transfer order?" Qiu Qingquan stopped and asked.

"I do. A report from Division Commander Liu, with the seal of the Northern Expedition General Headquarters." Lv Muzhi took out an official document from his pocket.

Qiu Qingquan took it and looked; indeed it bore a red seal, and he laughed and cried at once: "You have a transfer order, so why are you pulling me? Why not just go find our battalion commander directly?"

Lv Muzhi chuckled: "Isn't it because you're the one who understands engineers best? Let me have you pick out a few real experts—ones who know bridge-building and demolition. My Supplementary Regiment has a weak foundation; I need your help, help me bring a few seeds back so I can train more engineers myself."

After being praised, Qiu Qingquan felt relieved inside, but was still puzzled: "What do you need engineers for? Your Supplementary Regiment isn't a Combat Regiment."

"Preparing for a rainy day!" Lv Muzhi said seriously. "The Northern Expedition is imminent. Rivers crisscross the Xiang-Gan-E region. When we encounter rivers and ditches, we can't expect the enemy to leave bridges for us. Temporarily finding boats or having Xian Bing swim across would delay the fighter and cause heavy losses. With engineers in hand, the heart is not panicked."

"But the division headquarters or other regiments have engineer battalions too. Why not just borrow from them?"

"Borrow? Isn't it better to have my own? What if an emergency arises?"

Qiu Qingquan thought he made sense and nodded: "Alright, old senior classmate. Seeing that you're indeed thinking of the Northern Expedition, I'll pick a few good ones for you."

Qiu Qingquan brought Lv Muzhi around the Engineer Company and picked a few veterans with solid skills and quick minds.

After leaving the Engineer Battalion satisfied, Lv Muzhi brought the men and supplies back to the Supplementary Regiment's station.

Yes, besides men, there were also large quantities of supplies.

The three battalion commanders and the special service company commander all came to inspect the situation.

"Regimental Commander, you're serious? You actually got them?" Du Yuming asked.

"Six water-cooled heavy machine guns to strengthen firepower; thirty submachine guns for the commando and squad/platoon leaders; plus a dozen or so horses to form a communications reconnaissance squad. Also, some specialized equipment needed by the engineer battalion."

Looking at the six heavy machine guns, thirty submachine guns, and the dozen or so spirited pack horses laid out on the open ground, Du Yuming, Guan Linzhen, Song Xilian, and Zhang Fei gathered around, their faces full of surprise and delight.

"Regimental Commander, you're really something! So many heavy weapons—all obtained from Division Commander Liu?" Guan Linzhen stroked the body of a submachine gun, reluctant to put it down.

"And horses! Now transmitting orders and reconnaissance will be much more convenient!" Zhang Fei excitedly circled the horses.

Du Yuming was more steady, nodding: "With these, our regiment's firepower configuration and maneuverability have indeed improved by leaps and bounds; we can now count as a combat regiment."

Song Xilian also rarely smiled: "Brother Muzi, it seems that following you, our regiment's future days won't be bad."

Lv Muzhi looked at his subordinates' excited expressions and announced loudly: "Alright. Now that the Machine Gun Company, Reconnaissance Platoon, Communications Team, Engineer Battalion, and such are all established, our Supplementary Regiment must become a force capable of fighting tough battles!"

Everyone received the weapons and equipment and arranged training plans in a tense and busy manner, not daring to waste a single day.

These days, besides supervising the Supplementary Regiment's training progress, Lv Muzhi was also occasionally summoned by the Principal to the Military Academy.

There was no other reason: after the Principal purged the Workers and Peasants faction from the First Army and the Military Academy, there were fewer people to do the work, so those remaining naturally had to shoulder more.

First, the Baoyue Association was directly renamed the Liangguang Association, covering affairs of Guangdong Province and Guangxi.

The Liangguang Association was now led by Song Zhiwen of the Ministry of Finance and was given an economic attribute.

The Principal always complained that Northern Expedition military funds were insufficient, and the Guangxi clique always said military pay was urgent.

Song Zhiwen thus pulled the merchants and landlords of Liangguang into the Liangguang Association, making it convenient for him to improve the Liangguang economy and increase tax revenue.

At the same time, through the Liangguang Association, he registered and controlled civilian corps organizations in various places; normally they could be used to maintain public order and ensure the implementation of government orders, and in wartime the civilian corps could be used as reserve personnel.

Now that the Baoyue Association had expanded into the Liangguang Association, the Principal needed to plant his own people inside. Lv Muzhi was originally a director of the Baoyue Association, so bringing Lv Muzhi into the Liangguang Association was only natural.

Inside the Liangguang Association, those martial artists from before remained in their posts. The Principal arranged for martial artists to go train the civilian corps, and also had instructors from within the army go train the civilian corps, ensuring supervision and control over the civilian corps.

Lv Muzhi thought that although the Liangguang Association was of no use to him for now, as long as he secured a place within it, one day the Liangguang Association could play its economic and military role, and he could benefit from it.

When the Liangguang Association was founded, Song Zhiwen had also met Lv Muzhi once and produced the Principal's stock trading notes.

Lv Muzhi still remembered the situation at that time:

Song Zhiwen asked: "Muzi, your stock trading notes are quite interesting. Are you interested in going to the stock market to try your luck?"

Lv Muzhi was not interested: "The domestic market is too chaotic. Unless one can manipulate the market oneself, these stock trading notes are just a pile of waste paper, destined only to be harvested by others."

Song Zhiwen laughed helplessly: "That's right. Unless one can manipulate the market... Perhaps this domestic market will one day truly be controlled by me? But I don't like the word 'manipulate.' I think 'regulate' is more appropriate. Regulate the market..."

"Muzi Ah... all of this depends on whether the Northern Expedition Army can succeed..."

On July 1, the Revolutionary Army swore in for the Northern Expedition, deploying eight armies totaling about one hundred thousand men.

Lv Muzhi's Supplementary Regiment belonged to the Second Division of the First Army. After three months of training, they would set out with the army.

Throughout the thousands of years of recorded history of China, there have been countless Northern Expeditions, but only Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition succeeded once.

Lv Muzhi knew that this Northern Expedition of the Revolutionary Army would be the second successful Northern Expedition in history!