After breakfast the next day, Chiang Kai-shek and his entourage set off for Maoliangwu on three river passenger steamers transferred from the Maoliangwu Chamber of Commerce, escorted by four 80-ton river gunboats of the navy. After the fleet turned into Fangcun Creek in the Changshan River, the water became turbulent as the river became narrower.

After crossing the mouth of the creek and seeing the clear and hidden forts on both sides of the Fangcun Creek, Rao is Chiang Kai-shek had already been mentally prepared after hearing Dai Li's report, and he couldn't help but be secretly surprised.

Chiang Kai-shek asked the lieutenant commander standing beside him, "What will happen if you bombard the pillbox on the opposite hill with the main guns of your gunboats?" ”

The lieutenant colonel of the navy is the commander of this river fleet, he took the telescope and looked at it carefully, and after putting it down, he shook his head dejectedly: "Just looking at the appearance of the pillbox, you can see that its frontal thickness is at least more than one meter, and the main gun of our gunboat is only 57 mm, which cannot penetrate such a thick layer of reinforced concrete...... The other side doesn't even need artillery, just set up 8lNNR mortars on the hill and bombard us indiscriminately, and we can only return with a feather"

Chiang Kai-shek asked unwillingly: "What if the caliber of the naval guns is larger?" ”

The lieutenant colonel replied with a wry smile: "Judging from the speed of the water flow and the whirlpools that appear on the river surface from time to time, the hydrological situation of this river is extremely complicated, and the displacement of ships with main guns of more than 75 mm caliber is at least more than 200 tons, and it is very difficult to trace it here from the lower reaches of the Qianjiang River, and we are not familiar with the hydrological conditions here, it is difficult to ensure that the ships will not run aground during navigation, and the water surface and land are bombarded, and in such a narrow area, the surface ships are destined to suffer great losses, and the ships will only be bombed by shells in vain. It's an unsolvable proposition, and no one can do anything about it."

Chiang Kai-shek looked at the asphalt road built along the river bank along the foot of the mountain, which could only accommodate two trucks in a staggered manner, and shook his head, facing the steep mountain terrain and the defense of the reinforced concrete fortress group, the attacking force could not be deployed at all, while the defending side could take advantage of the terrain and concentrate firepower to strike, no matter how many people were killed.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the fleet sailed to the south wharf of Maoliangwu Town, where the officers and men of the new Second Division wearing brand-new military uniforms and cheering crowds lined up on both sides of the wharf, and Chiang Kai-shek stood at the bow of the boat, waving to the crowd of greetings.

Ten minutes later, Chiang Kai-shek and his wife left the ship and came to the wharf, where they got into a car again and headed to the Phoenix Mountain base in a majestic salute from both guards.

After more than half an hour's journey, the convoy drove into the camp and came to the large school field in the center of the Phoenix Mountain base that can accommodate 20,000 people at the same time.

Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, as well as officials at the provincial and prefectural levels, who were accustomed to seeing big scenes, waved frequently to the crowd, and came to their respective positions and sat down one after another.

The welcoming ceremony was presided over by Zhang Dongning, chief of staff of the New Second Division, who first gave a grand introduction to Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, which drew countless cheers of "long live." Then, the audience burst into warm applause for each guest introduced, and it took more than 10 minutes to introduce the guests on the rostrum one by one.

Subsequently, at the invitation of Zhang Dongning, Wu Ming walked to the microphone in front of the stage, and the audience suddenly thundered with joy, and the drum music shook the sky, and it slowly stopped for more than three minutes.

Wu Ming, who was wearing a major general's dress, finished saluting, looked around the audience, and began his speech, first of all, he warmly welcomed Chiang Kai-shek and his wife and the military and political dignitaries from the provinces and prefectures, and then raised his voice and generously thanked him:

“…… Here, on behalf of the officers and men of the new Second Division and all the people of Maoliangwu Town, please allow me to express my sincere thanks to the chairman and his wife and leaders at all levels who came to the Phoenix Mountain Base of Maoliangwu.

In the thunderous applause, Huang Shao, the provincial chairman wearing an off-white tunic suit, delivered a speech on behalf of the Zhejiang Provincial Government.

In the half-hour-long impromptu speech, Huang Shao, who did not need a script, received more than ten warm applause from the audience, he talked from the past in western Zhejiang to the present, from the present Mao Liangwu to the whole of China, and praised the great achievements of the military and civilians in western Zhejiang.

Wu Ming listened to Huang Shao's speech, admired his eloquence and charismatic demeanor, and said in his heart that this gentleman is worthy of being a general in the Gui department and Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, and Zhejiang will face unprecedented challenges in the next few years.

Chiang Kai-shek was always smiling, and the provincial and local officials who sat on the entire rostrum were all smiling and solemn, winning the warm cheers of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians.

After Zhang Dongning announced the official holding of the welcome ceremony, after the 24 gun salutes, 160 students in military uniforms from the military academy of the new Second Division formed an honor guard, and they followed the red military flag in the blue sky and the white sun, and strode on the stage.

Chiang Kai-shek looked at the honor guard in front of him, sighed, couldn't help but turn around, and asked Wu Ming, who was sitting in the back row, "How did such a neat and perfect formation be trained?" ”

"Back to the chairman, since these children in the military academy joined the army, they have carried out extremely strict military training, two exercises a day, rain or shine, among which queue training is a compulsory basic skill, and if you don't learn well, you are not allowed to touch the gun, they have been together for almost two years, so it is normal for them to be like this today." Wu Ming explained in a low voice.

Chiang Kai-shek nodded with relief: "I see...... I heard that most of the students in your military academy are orphans? ”

"Yes, this military academy specializes in training grassroots military talents, and the training is often difficult, if you don't have a tenacious heart, it is difficult to persist in training for up to 14 hours a day. However, in order to solve the problem of other school-age children being enrolled, Maoliangwu Town has built a school integrating primary and secondary schools, and more than 5,000 school-age children are currently enrolled. Wu Ming replied in a low voice.

The performance of the drum band was constantly changing, and the honor guard calmly performed a variety of dazzling fancy formations, which aroused bursts of applause from the military, civilian, provincial and local officials and reporters.

As the guard of honor passed, 900 officers and men drawn from the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the New 2nd Division, dressed in military uniforms and in units of 90 people, marched in orderly steps from the west side of the Daxiao Yard and then left from the east

The officers and men marched in unison, firm and powerful, and every step they took in their high-waisted leather shoes was as accurate and uniform as the second hand of the clock at the same time, and the dull and majestic sound of their steps hit the hearts of more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians in the audience again and again, making people's hearts beat faster and their blood boiling.

When the neat square team passed by the rostrum, the earth-shattering roar of "holding guns, saluting" and "saluting Chairman Chiang" rang out loudly, and the fierce murderous aura exuded from the soldiers who were fully armed and holding various weapons instantly shocked the entire military and civilians, and every spectator's heart was beating wildly, and they forgot to cheer and applaud for a while, until the team passed through the review stand, and the cheers of the audience rang out again.

Chiang Kai-shek and his wife on the viewing platform were shocked, the two looked at each other, and Chiang Kai-shek whispered to his wife:

"The new second division really lives up to its name...... Without thousands of tempering, it is impossible to have such a strong murderous aura, in a trance, I seem to smell a faint smell of blood, this guy who has never been to a military school really has a set of soldiers...... I heard that this is only the direct subordinate troops and supplementary brigades under Wu Ming, and I really don't know how elite the first and second brigades of the first brigade and the second brigade were transferred to eastern Zhejiang to build defense fortifications in Jiangsu and Zhejiang."

"yes, I was scared just now."

After Song Meiling finished speaking, she turned her head to look at Wu Ming behind her in surprise, and she couldn't see that Wu Ming, who was polite and polite, could train such a tiger master.