Chapter 256: Volume 3 Chapter 2, Volume 4 Chapter 1

Netizen hot comment: "Seeing the male lead sipping coffee in the trench for a pose, my blood pressure spiked. If the director had even turned a page of The Diary of Li Yuxuan for reference, it wouldn't have turned into a 'Ace vs Ace'‑style war‑fire game of lords."

Friends, I am Lishi.

Recently a TV drama about "Li Yuxuan founding the Fifth Army in Jinling" hit the hot search after being criticized. In the drama, a "genius" chief of staff, slicked with hair gel and talking about romance, points fingers at Li Yuxuan and the German Consultant Group, as if history were decided by his coffee cup and love‑filled brain.

That reminded me of a netizen's sharp comment: "The radicals still speak too conservatively." Today we won't discuss that "masterpiece" drama; we will lift the fog of history and the writer's imagination, return to the turbulent year 1927, and see how the real "Fifth Army" was actually born from Li Yuxuan's hands, and why later generations called it the steel torrent that kills anyone who encounters it.

1927, Jinling.

Li Yuxuan, who had just swept away the Badong warlords with Thunderbolt Method, was summoned back to the principal's side. He brought with him the Third Division, a battle‑proven, strictly disciplined elite force, as well as a coat of dust that could not be washed off and deeper worries in his heart.

At this time, the Badong situation had been settled, and the principal was busy with the "Deployment Conference", aiming to weaken the various warlords and consolidate national military power. Li Yuxuan, whose achievements shocked the ruler and who showed a hint of "military cleanliness", had become a piece in the principal's mind that needed to be placed properly yet could not be allowed to get out of control.

A scheming appointment thus began.

The principal summoned Li Yuxuan; the atmosphere remained cordial. He lavishly praised the achievements in Badong, calling them a "model of internal stability". Then, he shifted his tone:

"Yuxuan, although the Northern Expedition succeeded, nation‑building remains arduous. Proud troops and fierce generals across the land still need reorganization. Your Third Division is a model, a seed. I have an idea: using your Third Division as the core backbone, in Jinling, for me and for the Party and the nation, to forge a truly new model army! The designation will be— the Fifth Army."

This proposal seemed like supreme trust and favor. Expanding the most elite troops into a full army, placed under a trusted subordinate, stationed in the capital region—what a level of reliance!

However, Li Yuxuan instantly saw at least three layers of meaning: the first, a nominal promotion masking real control. Expanding the Third Division would require many officers to be transferred from the central command, diluting his absolute command over the troops. Stationing in Nanjing would also place him directly under Chiang Kai‑shek's watchful eye.

The second layer, an economic noose. Building a fully equipped German‑style army would cost astronomical sums. The principal handing this heavy responsibility to him was tantamount to stuffing a bottomless pit that could drain the treasury into his arms. When future military expenses strain and grievances arise, Li Yuxuan will be the first to bear the brunt.

The third layer, removing him from the vortex. Under the pretext of "focusing on army building", he is pulled out of the impending political struggles, preventing him from again disobeying due to "opposition to civil war", and also shielding this elite force from internal attrition.

This is the principal's imperial technique: using his talent while curbing his power; granting him a title while binding his hands and feet.

Li Yuxuan did not refuse, nor could he refuse. He calmly accepted the order, but put forward one condition: "If this army is to be formed, its officers must be drawn solely from the elite of the first six classes of Huangpu, selected personally by the Young Master. Tactical training must be fully Germanized, and I must have dictatorial authority."

The principal gladly agreed. What he needed was exactly such a force, wholly composed of Huangpu's direct lineage, answering only to the central command—a "Imperial Guard". Thus, an order was issued, and the youth talents from the Military Academy and various units were meticulously selected and gathered in Jinling. This established the Fifth Army's first terrifying characteristic: its officer corps—a group of extremely fervent, believers in the Three Principles of the People (or in the principal), rigorously trained in the most demanding academy, a youthful elite. They regard honor as life, revere Li Yuxuan as "Director" and spiritual leader, and their cohesion far exceeds that of ordinary units.

With the officer framework in place, what about the soul? The soul Li Yuxuan infused into the Fifth Army came directly from the modern military holy land—Germany.

It must be clarified here a fact that the TV drama severely downplayed or even distorted: the assistance Li Yuxuan received in building the army did not come from scattered "advisors", but from a concentrated "Future Star Cluster" that distilled German military wisdom.

Benefiting from Li Yuxuan's extensive and deep contacts in Germany in his early years, and the close cooperation between the Kuomintang regime and Germany, an unprecedentedly lavish German Consultant Group was secretly invited to China.

The members of this team may have been obscure at this time, but the spotlight of history is about to crown them:

Tactical innovator: an officer like Guderian, obsessed with armored cluster theory, regarded as a heretic in Germany, yet here found fertile ground for his ideas. He is responsible for drafting the Fifth Army's armored assault doctrine.

Infantry master: an expert like Rommel, proficient in infantry infiltration and mobile warfare, brought the prototype of the ghost tactics he would later employ in France and Beifei to the training ground outside Jinling City.

System architect: figures like Manstein, though not permanently stationed, conveyed through the consultant group the "Hundred‑Thousand Army" elite‑building concept, profoundly influencing the Fifth Army's organization—seeking not massive numbers but that each soldier could achieve maximum efficiency within the system.

These "future devils" combined with Li Yuxuan produced a startling chemical reaction. They brought not isolated skills, but a complete, avant‑garde modern combined‑operations system.

Li Yuxuan's office and the Fifth Army's training base became a testing ground for the world's cutting‑edge military thought. They debated, simulated, revised, integrating Germany's rigorous staff work and branch coordination concepts with the realities of Chinese battlefields.

A German Advisor wrote in a report sent back home: "Here (the Fifth Army), what we put forward is not a suggestion but an order being executed. General Li's comprehension and decisiveness make us feel we are working with a true German General Staff officer."

With soul and framework in place, a body of steel and iron is still needed. And this is the Fifth Army's most terrifying and most burdensome aspect for the National Government—its colossal expenditure can be described as a force that could topple a nation.

Li Yuxuan's principle in building the army was "nothing short of world‑class". On his procurement list were the most advanced equipment of the time: