Receiving a safe telegram from Bao Jiqing and Zhao Erxun from Yanjing, Xiao Yimin and Zhang Lan, Kuang Youmin and other like-minded thinkers were overjoyed, Zhang Lan excitedly said that the most worrying and difficult things have passed, and Sichuan, which is united and independent, will be able to enter a golden period of rapid development.

Kuang Youmin, Zou Wenhan and others agreed with Zhang Lan's point of view very much, and raised their wine glasses to drink happily in celebration.

Xiao Yimin had a smile on his face, but he didn't dare to agree in his heart, but he would not spoil everyone's happiness at such a time, so he took advantage of the wine to officially propose to Zhang Lan and Kuang Youmin, the two civil affairs chiefs, that the annual budget of 35 percent be used for military spending.

Kuang Youmin, who is keen on civil affairs construction, immediately lowered his face to oppose it, and Zhang Lan also said that the military expenditure was too much, and the 35 percent financial expenditure was more than 18 million yuan, although compared with the surrounding provinces and coastal provinces, this proportion was not high, but Sichuan has been in turmoil and war for many years, and only one-third of the mileage of the road originally planned to be built has been completed, and the only thing that can be used to show off this year's political achievements is the newly expanded highway from Chengdu to Neijiang, of which the 25-kilometer-long mountain road from Longquanyi to Dengjiawan has not yet been completed. It can only rely on the officers and soldiers of the engineer battalion and the surveying and mapping section directly under the border army command to carry out the blasting work; The three excellent varieties of rice, corn and soybeans, which were originally planned to be popularized throughout the province, were only planted in more than a dozen counties around Chengdu due to financial reasons, and most of the people in the counties and towns were eagerly looking forward to the favor of the political axe.

Zhang Lan said frankly that the provincial political axe and the parliament gritted their teeth a few days ago to pay Xiao Yimin 3 million yuan in combat expenses and a post-war army reintegration subsidy, which is already the ultimate that the political axe can do this year, and there are still many highway bridges under construction waiting to be used in the second half of the year, and the waterway from Chengdu down to Chongqing will also be dredged and an additional wharf will be built, and it will be money if it moves, so the 35 percent annual military expenditure is too huge, and the Financial and Economic Committee and the provincial council will never agree to it.

Xiao Yimin argued on the basis of reason and gave vivid examples to illustrate the importance of military spending.

Zhang Lan and others also agreed with Xiao Yimin's statement, they all know that the situation in Sichuan is not optimistic, there are Shaanxi, western Henan, and southern Henan, which are full of disasters and military disasters in the north, and Yunnan in the south, which is deeply hated, and the west needs to deal with the rebels supported by the British at any time, and war may occur at any time, and the defense and counterinsurgency tasks of the Sichuan army are very heavy, and through the two wars and the detailed report made by Xiao Yimin at the National Congress, everyone understands that under normal circumstances, the total number of the standing army in Sichuan cannot be less than 150,000. In order to ensure the security of the entire territory of Sichuan, Zhang Lan and the others just did not agree to occupy 35 percent of the province's annual expenditure for military spending.

In the end, Zhang Lan and Kuang Youmin promised to persuade the parliament to strive to spend 25 percent of the annual budget on military expenditure.

Xiao Yimin was so angry that his face was red, but he couldn't compete with the stubborn and patient mother-in-law Zhang Lan and Kuang Youmin, so he had to pour a glass of wine into his throat to drown his sorrows, and soon fell to the ground drunk and was carried upstairs by the guards.

Zhang Lan, Kuang Youmin and others felt guilty, if it had not been for Xiao Yimin to integrate the Sichuan army, to forcefully oppose the infiltration and interference of all domestic forces in Sichuan, and to create a new world with the spirit of becoming benevolent if they did not succeed, where would there be tens of millions of people in Sichuan today? There is no high-ranking official and the opportunity to realize lofty ideals!

Xiao Yimin, who was lying on the bed, learned that Zhang Lan and the others had left, so he immediately sat up happily, hugged his beloved wife with a big belly and kissed him again and again, happy like a child, and kept saying that he was satisfied with being able to get eight million a year, but he didn't expect that there would be another five million, which made Yi Zhenying cry and laugh, and felt distressed for her husband who was tired and tired for the people and ideals.

On 25 June, 5,500 officers and men of Zhong Ying's unit, who had undergone five months of rigorous training, held a solemn oath-taking ceremony for the Western Expedition at the Ya'an camp.

Xiao Yimin didn't care whether Yuan Shikai agreed to promote him or not, and resolutely issued an invitation letter in his capacity as the commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Army, and brought in more than 100 high-ranking military and political officials and celebrities in the business circles, including Duan Qirui, the special commissioner, who had come to inspect and discuss, Zhang Lan, who had officially performed the duties of the provincial governor, and Kuang Youmin, the speaker of the parliament, to ride more than 30 Dodge long-distance passenger buses converted from one-and-a-half-ton trucks to Ya'an and present flags to Zhong Ying and the soldiers.

When Duan Qirui entered the Ya'an camp where the battle flag was fluttering and all the people were watching, when he saw the more than 5,000 border army officers and soldiers who were neatly arranged with high morale and well-equipped with colorful weapons, his face was full of shock, his eyes were bulging, his mouth was shocked, and he sighed, he never thought that Zhong Ying's brigade was so well-armed and equipped that in Duan Qirui's opinion, it had reached the point of luxury.

Duan Qirui, accompanied by Xiao Yimin and Bao Jiqing, finished meeting with Zhong Ying and other generals, and took advantage of the opportunity of provincial government officials and representatives from all walks of life to cordially express their condolences to the officers and soldiers of Zhong Ying's department.

Xiao Yimin did not need to hide Duan Qirui, who spoke for him everywhere, and introduced that in addition to the cavalry regiment equipped with 1,200 men and horses, the other two regiments of Zhong Ying's department were mountain combat units with a strength of 2,000 officers and soldiers, and their rifles were modified and shortened from the Mauser long rifle, except for the barrel shortened to 600mm, the built-in five-round magazine was changed to a ten-round interpolated magazine, and the butt was covered with a steel plate stamped guard, other parameters were exactly the same as those of the M1905 Mauser rifle.

According to the needs of mountain operations, after two years of exploration and summarization, the mixed brigade of the border guard army chose an establishment that was different from that of the conventional army:

Each squad is 11 people, equipped with eight short rifles, three M1912 military pistols, and one M1915 German-style air-cooled light machine gun produced by the Ya'an Arsenal, the light machine gun is equipped with a main and auxiliary shooter, two replacement barrels, and a repair kit with a spare bolt, and the squad leader is a sergeant or sergeant with more than three years of combat experience; A platoon with three squads, a company with three platoons, plus an artillery platoon with four 60mm mortars; There are three companies in one battalion and three battalions in one regiment, plus a regimental reconnaissance company and a machine gun company.

Considering the difficulty of the march, Zhong Ying's mixed brigade was not equipped with heavy mountain artillery and field artillery, but formed a mortar battalion directly under the brigade headquarters, replacing artillery with the newly developed 24 81mm mortars, the newly equipped 81mm mortars were good, plus the seat plate and launcher, the total weight was only 58 kg, the maximum firing range was 2300 meters, the weight of the shells was 3.2 kg, the killing radius was 15 meters, and 15 shells could be fired per minute, and the excellent shooters reached a speed of 25 rounds, which basically met the operational needs of the Kang-Tibet area.

The new-style marching backpack on the back of every officer and soldier is purely an experimental product, and at present, it is only equipped with Zhong Ying's Reading Power Mixed Brigade, and the materials used are British-made canvas and waterproof adhesive tape, and there is a sleeping bag lined with suede sheepskin in the backpack, a pair of spare high-waisted thickened rubber-soled military shoes and other miscellaneous items such as replacement clothing, and several flip-button bags on both sides of the backpack can still hold a lot of things, and the quilts that were previously distributed have been eliminated.

The same is true for canvas combat vests, due to the high altitude of the Kang-Tibet region, the difficulty of marching, and the large temperature difference between day and night, the three-layer canvas combat vest lined with silk cotton not only plays a role in keeping warm, but also greatly reduces the burden on officers and soldiers, and this new combat vest can be loaded with six ten-round magazines, four wooden-handled grenades, a battlefield first-aid kit, a sewing kit, a small bottle of Yunnan Baiyao, and ten bridge clips with five bullets. The five-round bridge clip quickly loads the bullets into the ten-round magazine, making it easier for troops to fight continuously.

As for the steel helmets, due to the shortage of military spending, at present, they can only meet the needs of the three mixed brigades of the border army, and only a small number of elite troops are currently distributed to various units of the Sichuan army.

The two of them said while watching, a group of school officers behind them followed and stopped, not daring to make a sound, every officer and soldier who was inspected puffed up their chests and was very confident, and a pair of eager eyes stared at the commander Xiao Yimin, revealing incomparable respect and admiration. A small number of recruits with green faces also behaved very well, and the trembling looks on the faces of the officers and men of the Beiyang Army and other local armies when they saw the senior officials could not be seen on the faces of the officers and men on the Sichuan border.

The advanced equipment of Zhong Ying's officers and soldiers and the mental outlook of the officers and soldiers made Duan Qirui extremely sighing, he knew that all this was piled up with money, and I am afraid that only Xiao Yimin had such a large capital in the whole of China, and Duan Qirui was keenly aware that the situation in Kang-Tibet would soon change because of the intervention of this powerful army, and I was afraid that the British envoy would shout at Yuan Dashuai again.

"Yiming, how long will Zhong Yingbu's westward expedition take this time?" Duan Qirui put down the spotless light machine gun, took a few steps and stopped and asked.

Xiao Yimin smiled: "You don't have to come back, you can only wait for you to be injured or discharged from the army if you want to come back." ”

Duan Qirui asked suspiciously: "You mean, this brigade has been stationed on the front line of Kang-Tibet for a long time?" ”

Xiao Yimin pulled Duan Qirui to walk slowly, pointed to the crowd in old-fashioned khaki military uniforms to the west of the field, and explained to Duan Qirui in a low voice:

"That's 5,000 young and strong men from the disaster area in Henan and Shaanxi, they are Zhong Ying's baggage team, following the mixed brigade to the west, and finally to stay in Mangkang for a long time, building the Mangkang transit station and permanent surname fortifications. The younger brother had promised them that after three years, if they wanted to return to their hometown, they would give each of them 300 oceans, and if they settled down in Mangkang, the younger brother would send each of them a wife, and give each family a house, two cows, and at least twenty acres of land, and all the seeds and farm tools for the first two years would be given free of charge, and no taxes and fees would be levied for ten years, and each person who performed well could also be given a gun for self-defense and hunting. ”

Duan Qirui was taken aback: "Do you really want to do it?" ”

"Really dry!"

Xiao Yimin looked at Duan Qirui seriously: "Brother Duan, these days you always joke that your little brother has so much money, what are you doing desperately to grab money?" Today, the younger brother will open his heart and tell the eldest brother that from this year onwards, all the money earned by the factories and companies of the younger brother's family will be invested in the immigrants of Kangzang, and the younger brother plans to use ten years to completely change the chaotic situation in Kangzang! ”

(To be continued)