Chapter 10: A New Round of Reorganization

From Irkutsk, it took two days on horseback to Kyakhta, and then four days on the train to Beijing. When he saw the city of Beijing in the car window, Xu Shuzheng had an urge to cheer, this road was too fucking toss-up. The bones all over my body are sore, and this feeling is terrible.

This time, Xu Shuzheng returned to Beijing to report on his work, and at the same time attended a military meeting convened by the Ministry of National Defense. I heard that the scale of the meeting was very large, and the commanders of all major military regions in the country had to attend it, and except for Yin Changheng's headquarters in Tibet, the commanders of other military regions had been informed.

The train gets off at Beijing North Railway Station, which is the newly built station. After a few years away from Beijing, the city has changed a lot, and Xu Shuzheng felt strange when he saw the neat residential buildings in the new community outside from the car window.

Today's Beijing is no longer the city of Beijing defended by the traditional sense of the city wall in the past, the urban area has expanded violently in recent years, the original city wall has been opened a lot of openings, the newly built cement road is running cars, and the carts pulled by livestock are not allowed to enter the city.

Coming from the train station was a young lieutenant, with a squad of soldiers standing solemnly on the platform. According to the Ministry of National Defense, a special train was to be sent to Xu Shuzheng, and Xu Shuzheng said that there was no need, and he would temporarily add a carriage to the truck, and then transfer to a passenger car after arriving in Zhangjiakou. In this way, when Xu Shuzheng got off the train, there were a lot of people at the station.

Xu Shuzheng's carriage was so easy to identify at the end, and as soon as the body with the rank of lieutenant general on his shoulder appeared, the young officer trotted forward: "May I ask if the commander is General Xu Youzheng?" ”

Xu Shuzheng nodded and said, "I am Xu Shuzheng, may I ask who you are?" ”

"Salute! Li Zhongming, a lieutenant staff officer of the Ministry of National Defense, was ordered to come to pick up the station! Please instruct the sir! "The young officer stood straight, with a grass-green Wehrmacht uniform, a leather belt around his waist, and a short gun on his shoulder, very heroic. Xu Shuzheng nodded with satisfaction and said, "Where is the car?" ”

A brand-new black car drove over, Xu Shuzheng walked around the car for a week and said with a smile: "This is a domestic Great Wall brand car, not bad, not bad." ”

Li Zhongming said: "Report to the chief, this is a new car purchased by the Ministry of National Defense from the Shenyang Automobile Factory, and this will be your special car from now on. ”

A small car, one stuck. One after the other, the guard squad and Xu Shuzheng led by Xu Shuzheng left the train station and got on the clean and tidy cement road after the expansion. Xu Shuzheng kept looking outside, and couldn't help but say, "It's a big change." ”

Li Zhongming turned around in the front row and said, "The chief just arrived today, so I will report first, and then turn around and settle down to rest." There is still half a month left for the official opening of the meeting, so you can walk around. ”

"Besides, this trip back is indispensable." Xu Shuzheng responded patiently, from the northwest to Mongolia, and then to the Far East. I have been back to Beijing once in recent years, and for Xu Shuzheng, being outside and in Beijing are completely different concepts. Today's Beijing City. It's not the city of Beijing that was in charge of Beijing back then. If it weren't for Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang and other bigwigs taking the initiative to give way, a little blood and blood in Beiyang might not have survived. Speaking of Fang Jianxiong, he is indeed very good. These people in the old Beiyang, as long as they have talent. I dare to use you. Xu Shuzheng, from the northwest to the Far East, has been the commander of the lieutenant general district for a few years, and he has more than 100,000 elite soldiers under his command, and this trust is heavy. People have to be emotional and convincing.

Zhu Daizhen was the second batch of expeditionary force officers to return to China in April, and his performance in the European theater was excellent. Zhu Daizhen, who was the regiment commander when he came out, was already a brigade commander when he returned to China. Born in Yunnan in the early years, Yunnan responded to Fang Jianxiong's policy of peaceful nation-building after the Xinhai Revolution, and Zhu Daizhen, who was the battalion commander at the time, was selected to go to Wuhu for half a year of study, and was promoted to deputy regiment commander after graduation, and was promoted to regiment commander when he went abroad in 16 years. During the two years in Europe, Zhu Daizhen was very fortunate not to be injured at all, you must know that in the face of the fierce artillery fire of the Germans and a large number of tanks, the young Wehrmacht required officers to dare to go up.

After two years of blood and fire tempering in Europe, Zhu Daizhen has become more mature and has a deeper understanding of the tactical thinking of today's world. When I looked back and thought about what I had learned during my advanced studies at the Wuhu Army University, I realized that the booklet "New Tactics Research" that was issued for internal reference at that time was of great value.

Soon after returning to China, Zhu Daizhen was given a three-month vacation. Returning to his hometown of Yilong, Sichuan, after many years of fighting abroad, when he returned to China, he saw that his old mother was full of gray hair, and he couldn't help but feel guilty. During my three months in my hometown, I felt a huge change. Compared with the Qing Dynasty, it can be said that the country has been politically harmonious in recent years, and the burden on the people has been much lighter. Although the agricultural tax is still the bulk of the state revenue, with the mandatory implementation of the policy of rent reduction and interest reduction, the life of tenant families is much better. There are also some new factories in the county, and if you are lucky, you can make a living in them. In winter, when the farming season is slack, the government organizes the construction of roads, and the wage of five cents a day is guaranteed for food and housing, and anyone can do it as long as they can endure hardship.

All in all, the lives of ordinary people are much better. During the three months in my hometown, these feelings were clear.

When he was about to pack up and return to the troops, Zhu Daizhen received a telegram from the General Staff Headquarters, asking him to go directly to the General Staff in Beijing to report, and at the same time attached 150 yuan for travel expenses and expenses.

Zhu Daizhen immediately said goodbye to his old mother at home and set off on the road to Chongqing first. At the priority window of the military at the wharf, Zhu Daizhen bought a ticket to Hankou, and as soon as he got the ticket and turned around, he heard someone greet him: "Brother Yujie!" ”

When Zhu Daizhen heard this, he immediately stepped forward excitedly. He was greeted by two comrades-in-arms who went to Europe together, Gu Pinzhen and Fan Shisheng, all three of whom were classmates in the advanced advanced training class of Wuhu Lu University, but they were not just teachers when they were in France.

"Brother Koizumi, Brother Shinozai, have you also received a telegram from the General Staff?"

"I received it, and there are 150 yuan of travel expenses and subsidies." Gu Pinzhen, as always, always had a peaceful smile on her face. Fan Shisheng said: "I have been at home for three months, I am about to get moldy, this is not a week ago I received a telegram, I called Brother Xiaozhai and went to Chongqing, I didn't expect to meet Brother Yujie, it just so happened that the three of us have company." ”

The three of them were talking and walking out of the dock, but they heard someone shouting behind them: "Brother Yujie, Brother Xiaozhai, Brother Xiaoquan, wait ha, wait ha." The three of them stood and turned around, and saw three officers catching up behind them, and after a closer look, they all knew Liu Xiang, Yang Sen, and Liu Hui, who had spent time in the trenches in Europe together.

Liu Xiang and Zhu Daizhen are of the same division, both officers of Xu Chongzhi's 19th Division, during the European War, accumulated combat exploits, Liu Xiang is Zhu Daizhen's deputy brigade commander, Yang Sen is the brigade chief of staff, and Liu Hui is the chief of staff of another brigade.

In contrast, Zhu, Gu, and Fan are now all colonels, and Zhu, Gu, and Fan are all brigade commanders, a little higher than the later three. Everyone knows each other, and they all crawled back from the dead in Europe, and naturally they didn't say anything about friendship. In parallel time and space, these people are all princes of one side, and people who have something to do in the Republic of China in this time and space can still get out of the way.

A group of people got together, so it was not lively. The boat was at ten o'clock in the evening, and while it was still early, a group of people went to the restaurant to drink. I drank almost enough, got on the boat together, and rushed to Wuhan. When I settled down on the ship, I found that some of the forty or fifty officers on this ship were returning to the army during the holidays, and there were several high-ranking officers, such as Zhu Daizhen, Gu Pinzhen, and Fan Shisheng, who were going to Beijing. After the expeditionary force returned to China, it rested directly in several suburbs and counties around Shanghai, and hundreds of thousands of people took turns to rest, and then arranged places to go after the holiday.

Zhu, Gu, and Fan disembarked from Hankou, said goodbye to their brothers, who were continuing eastward, and then took a train to the north. At the end of July, when I went to Beijing to report on the General Staff Headquarters, I found that there were quite a few of these officers who had come to Beijing, and dozens of them were living in the guest house of the Ministry of National Defense.

Zhu Daizhen and others inquired about the news, but they didn't know why they came to Beijing this time, but they heard that the Ministry of National Defense was holding a meeting, and the commanders of the major military regions had arrived.

The main content of this meeting was reorganization, and 500,000 Wehrmacht troops went to fight in Europe, suffering 150,000 casualties, and those who remained were veterans and officers of the 100 wars. These officers and veterans are all treasures, compared with other units in the country, which are mainly recruits, Fang Jianxiong proposed a new round of reorganization and training.

The meeting was held in the War Hall of the Ministry of National Defense, with Fang Jianxiong sitting upright in the center, and Jiang Fangzhen, chief of the General Staff, presiding over the meeting and announcing the reorganization order.

"After collective discussion by the Military Committee and submission to the General Staff of the Ministry of National Defense for planning, the new reorganization outline reads as follows. First, the Wehrmacht was reorganized into 50 infantry corps, 5 cavalry corps, 10 armored divisions, and 10 independent heavy artillery brigades. Each corps has three divisions, one independent cavalry brigade, one independent artillery division, one baggage brigade, one engineer regiment, and one military medical brigade. Each heavy division is subordinate to two infantry brigades, two regiments per brigade, and four battalions per regiment ....... "The biggest feature of this reorganization is that the original relatively independent heavy artillery unit has been abolished, and it has been incorporated into the 155 howitzer independent artillery divisions and divisional artillery regiments of various military departments. At the same time, the troops at all levels have increased the number and equipment of technical arms, and the increased equipment is mainly mortars of various calibers and 75-caliber anti-tank guns. The baptism of war in Europe and the experience summed up have proved that in order to maintain combat effectiveness and ensure the mobility of troops, there is no need for division-level units to be equipped with too much heavy artillery, otherwise the logistical pressure will be too great. At least for the time being, it is more appropriate for the Wehrmacht, which uses pack horses as the main means of transport, to equip division-level units with 12 105 howitzers.

After Jiang Fangzhen informed the reorganization order, Fang Jianxiong stood up and spoke: "Everyone, this reorganization is related to the next war in twenty years, considering that the situation in the Far East is undecided, the new reorganization starts from the south to the north. First, the garrisons of Liangguang, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, and other provinces were reorganized,............。 ”

The reintegration meeting ended after three days, and the commanders of the various military districts were arguing with each other in the conference rooms for troops and equipment.

Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng stayed very quietly, the Shenyang Military Region and the Mongolian Military Region were transcendent, so they didn't have to worry about anything.