At nine o'clock in the morning, the inaugural meeting of the 36th Group Army officially began.

A large group of security personnel entered the conference room with Zhang Yunfei, the commander-in-chief, Chen Cheng, and others, followed by Zuo Qingquan, Deng Wenping, Fang Zheng, Liu Dazhu, and other high-level leaders of the future 36th Group Army.

The reporters of various newspapers immediately pressed the camera when they saw the protagonist coming in, and after a burst of dazzling silver light flashed, the mighty images of Zhang Yunfei and others were immediately and permanently frozen.

Seeing the leaders come in, the originally noisy conference hall immediately quieted down, and everyone looked at Zhang Yunfei and the others intently.

In everyone's eyes, Zhang Yunfei and others walked quickly onto the rostrum, sat down on the seat with their names written on it, looked around, and saw that everyone was very quiet, all looking at the rostrum, so Zhang Yunfei picked up the microphone next to him, and said loudly in a voice with a slight joy: "Comrades, friends, today is very happy to usher in the official establishment of our 36th Group Army. Next, you welcome the representative of the National Military Council, Chief of the General Staff Chen Cheng, to speak. ”

As soon as Zhang Yunfei's words fell, everyone immediately burst into a burst of thunderous applause, and everyone's faces were full of joy and glory.

As soon as everyone's applause stopped, Chen Cheng, who was wearing a brand-new first-class general's uniform, looked into the microphone in front of him and said with a smile: "Friends, I have been entrusted by Chairman Jiang to attend the inaugural meeting of the 36th Group Army, and my heart is the same as everyone else, I am very happy that our united front of the Anti-Japanese War has another heroic division today......

Chen Cheng spoke into the microphone for about ten minutes, first praising the 36th Group, then talking about Chairman Jiang's hopes, and then taking out the document signed by Chairman Jiang and reading it carefully.

Chen Cheng read this document for about a few more minutes before picking up the letter of appointment issued by Chairman Chiang, standing up solemnly, and saying loudly: "Commander-in-Chief Zhang, I will now read out the letter of appointment signed by Chairman Chiang. ”

Seeing this, Zhang Yunfei also stood up solemnly, walked in front of Chen Cheng in a few steps, stood upright, stood straight, and then gave a military salute, looking at Chen Cheng with blazing eyes.

Chen Cheng immediately returned a military salute, and then picked up the letter of appointment and read it slowly: "Zhang Yunfei is hereby appointed as the commander-in-chief of the 36th Group Army of the Chinese Revolutionary Army, and awarded the rank of second-class general, issued by Jiang Zhongzheng." ”

Zhang Yunfei took the letter of appointment with both hands, saluted Chen Cheng again, and then returned to his seat and sat down in a few steps.

Zhang Yunfei, who got the letter of appointment, was also slightly excited in his heart, and suddenly rose to the height of a second-class general, it seems that in the future, he will become the focus of the whole country again.

Finally, Chen Cheng finished speaking, and then, Zhang Yunfei warmly invited the commander-in-chief to speak on behalf of the Central Committee, and the commander-in-chief's speech was much more concise; first on behalf of the Central Committee, he congratulated the founding of the 36th Group Army, and then sent a message to the 36th Group Army, hoping that everyone would create more brilliant achievements.

Although the commander-in-chief's speech was only a few minutes, it ushered in everyone's long-lasting warm applause, which was in stark contrast to the sparse applause that Chen Cheng had just finished speaking.

The inaugural meeting of the 36 th Group Army lasted for more than two hours, and the last item was that Chen Cheng, together with the commander-in-chief, personally put up a plaque for the 36 th Group Army, replacing the sign "136 Division of the 18 th Group Army of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army" hanging at the main entrance of the headquarters with a brand new sign of "The 36 th Group Army of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army."

After the meeting ended smoothly, Zhang Yunfei entertained everyone in the best restaurant in Datong, had a hearty lunch, after the lunch, in the noon break, Chen Cheng also specially found Zhang Yunfei, the two talked together for a long time, Chen Cheng tried his best to recruit Zhang Yunfei, and promised rich conditions.

But Zhang Yunfei is not very interested in these, now he is self-sufficient in weapons and equipment, and there is no shortage of funds for the time being, and the high-ranking officials promised by Chen Cheng are really not attractive to Zhang Yunfei. Besides, Zhang Yunfei himself did not want to rely on the Kuomintang, and now that history has changed, it is really uncertain how it will develop in the future.

At the moment, the best thing to do is to strive to develop industry, grow your strength, and take your own destiny into your own hands. If you are really strong, it is best to change the history of China, and after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, you can form a Mingzhu United Political Axe, so that you can avoid both [***] and civil war.

Although Zhang Yunfei had his own ideas in his heart, he also did it exquisitely, neither promised Chen Cheng anything, nor directly refused. Although Chen Cheng was disappointed in his heart, he still felt that there was a glimmer of hope to win Zhang Yunfei over.

In the afternoon, Chen Cheng refused Zhang Yunfei's offer and left Datong on his own plane. Seeing Chen Cheng away, Zhang Yunfei also sighed for a long time, now there are no high-ranking officials of the Kuomintang, Zhang Yunfei feels much freer, Zhang Yunfei has many things to discuss in detail with the commander-in-chief, and it has been inconvenient to have Chen Cheng here.

In the evening, Zhang Yunfei personally invited the commander-in-chief, ready to have a good talk with the commander-in-chief, he has a lot of plans and ideas, you can talk to the commander-in-chief first, the commander-in-chief is currently the number two person in the party and the army, and his influence and prestige are second only to Yan'an's Chairman Gu Yue.

In the office of Zhang Yunfei of the command headquarters, Zhang Yunfei enthusiastically served the commander-in-chief good tea, and then said to the commander-in-chief with a smile: "Boss, we are now in the 36th Group Army, but there are still many things I still want to communicate with you." ”

"Oh!" When the commander-in-chief heard Zhang Yunfei say this, he immediately looked at Zhang Yunfei with interest and said, "Comrade Yunfei, if you have any ideas, tell me directly." ”

"Boss, I have two main things, I want to communicate with you in advance, the first thing is that all divisions under our 36th Group Army will be promoted from our original officers in principle, because my weapons and equipment and strategy and tactics are very different from those of the 18th Group Army, and if I transfer officers from the Eighth Route Army, I don't think it is necessary."

At present, the director of the political department and the chief of staff of the 36th Group have been transferred from the Eighth Route Army, which shows that Zhang Yunfei's posture is very correct and he is also very loyal to the party.

"The second thing, I want to change our military uniforms, the difference from the current Eighth Route Army It seems that the first batch of sample uniforms has been designed, boss, take a look, mighty and beautiful." After speaking, Zhang Yunfei picked up the new military uniform that had been prepared by his side and showed it to the commander-in-chief.

The new military uniform in Zhang Yunfei's hand is designed and made in accordance with the 07-style military uniform of the People's Liberation Army in later generations, which is both beautiful and generous, and is equipped with epaulettes, which can show the level of the military rank.

The commander-in-chief took these brand-new military uniforms, looked at them again and again, and looked like he couldn't put them down, the commander-in-chief had been in the army for decades, and he had never seen such a beautiful and generous military uniform, with a happy expression on his face, and said hello again and again.

Seeing that the commander-in-chief was deeply attracted by the military uniform he took out and praised it greatly, Zhang Yunfei immediately struck while the iron was hot, and said to the commander-in-chief with a smile: "Boss, you should think about these two things I said, at the beginning of the establishment of our 36th Group Army, we needed the help of the central government very much. ”

The commander-in-chief didn't immediately agree to Zhang Yunfei anything, but judging from the commander-in-chief's happy expression, the commander-in-chief must have no personal opinions.

So Zhang Yunfei was ready to add another fire, and said to the commander-in-chief with a smile: "Boss, although the Eighth Route Army is better than before, it still lacks weapons and ammunition, as a brother unit, I can still help, and our 36th Group Army is ready to support the 18th Army with 500,000 rounds of rifle bullets and 20 60mm mortars every month." ”

Seeing Zhang Yunfei say this, the commander-in-chief was very happy: "Comrade Yunfei, you are very good, with your great support, the 18th Group Army will be much better, you just said the two things, you should send a report in the name of the 36th Group Army as soon as possible, report to the Central Committee, and at the meeting of the Central Committee, I will try my best to fight for you." ”

Seeing the commander-in-chief say this, Zhang Yunfei was immediately relieved, a large amount of ammunition support every month, coupled with the commander-in-chief's personal efforts, then there must be no problem in this matter.

After thinking about it, everyone put on beautiful and elegant new military uniforms, ensigns, lieutenants, captains...... and other military ranks, which are clear at a glance, which is very convenient for the management of the troops, and this kind of military uniform is unique to the 36th Group, and when others look at this military uniform, they will know that it is from the 36th Group. As a member of the 36th Group Army, the soldiers will definitely have a sense of pride in their hearts when they wear such military uniforms.

On the morning of the next day, Zhang Yunfei finalized the numbers of the units under the 36 th Group Army, which had six infantry divisions under its jurisdiction, which were expanded from the previous infantry brigades, and each division had two infantry brigades and an artillery regiment, and the artillery regiment was equipped with 60 newly produced 105-millimeter howitzers, and the total number of the division was about 25,000.

This 105 mm howitzer is a reduced version of the 155 mm howitzer, weighing only a little more than two tons, although the power and range are a little worse than the 155 mm howitzer, but as a division-level heavy fire support weapon, it is just competent, the previous production of the 92 infantry gun, the power is too small, and it has basically been discontinued.

The artillery brigade directly under the division has been expanded into a heavy artillery division, under the jurisdiction of two heavy artillery brigades, each brigade is equipped with 240 155-mm howitzers, and the heavy artillery division will be the strategic force of the 36 th Group Army, equipped with several hundred heavy guns, and its power should not be underestimated. There are more than 20,000 people in the whole division plus the transport personnel.

The armored brigade was expanded into an armored division, under the jurisdiction of three armored brigades, each brigade will be equipped with more than 100 Type 39 tanks and hundreds of Type 39 armored personnel carriers. The total number of armored divisions will reach nearly 20,000.

The cavalry regiment was also expanded into a cavalry division, with four regiments, three of which were cavalry regiments and one mechanized infantry regiment. Each cavalry regiment has more than 2,000 cavalrymen, armed with sabers and AK-47 assault rifles, and the mechanized infantry regiment is equipped with 60 armored personnel carriers and more than 100 off-road vehicles, which have been modified to be equipped with a 30-mm cannon on each vehicle. In addition, a small number of large trucks are equipped.

In addition to these units, there are direct guard regiments, special combat teams, flying brigades, as well as a large number of auxiliary and civilian personnel, and the entire army group will exceed two hundred thousand troops.

(To be continued)