"Stand upright!" "Keep up with the right!" "Look ahead!" "Take a break!" A series of orders were issued, and Huang Jinhui, the commander of the fifth company of the second battalion of the reserve, stared at the neatly lined company, and did not speak for three minutes, but majestically glanced at his more than 100 subordinates.

This method was learned by him from the old company commander, who stood in the queue and did not even dare to meet the company commander's gaze. Now that he has also become a company commander, he has learned the methods of the old leader.

Sure enough, he saw the awe in the eyes of the recruits in the company.

The second and third battalions are not as good as the first battalion, not only the proportion of veterans is low, but each battalion has only three companies, and there is also a gap in weapons, such as heavy machine guns, and the first battalion has two guns per company, a total of eight guns. However, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions had only one heavy machine gun per company.

This was the third emergency assembly of the whole company after he took over as the commander of the fifth company.

Huang Jinhui, a disciple of Bai Wei, was still a recruit of the old Fourth Company in the Battle of Xigu, and cooperated with his comrades to stab three German soldiers and stab two in hand-to-hand combat with the Germans. Make a meritorious record. After the war, he was personally commended by Long Qian and was promoted to squad leader. In two years, Huang Jinhui was from squad leader to platoon leader, and from platoon commander to deputy company commander. Seven days ago, he was transferred from the position of deputy company commander of the second standard to the reserve as a company commander, and although he was promoted by half a level, he was not happy, and he always felt that the reserve force was inferior, but he told him about the speed and quality of the emergency assembly that this unit hidden in the depths of the base area was not a false shelf.

The quality of the troops can basically be demonstrated by the emergency assembly.

"Brothers, Commander Wang took orders from Commander Long. I ordered the whole battalion to open up, fully armed, and go north from Fei County, passing through Tai'an and Jinan to Wuding Mansion. The whole journey is 600 miles, and our battalion is limited to six days to arrive. Our company is the vanguard of the battalion, and whether or not we can complete the march on time depends on our company. Do you have confidence? ”

"Yes!" Thunderous answers.

Huang Jinhui nodded with satisfaction. This set is the tradition of the Mengshan Army, and the general commander will ask after announcing the mission. And those simple soldiers didn't care what the task was, and answered "yes" with all their strength at the top of their throats!

"Well, everyone has faith. This is good. Huang Jinhui paced in front of the queue. Let me tell you a piece of news, this time I went to Wuding Mansion, not to fight, but to defend the river. Which river? Yellow River! There has been a lot of rain this year. We're all feeling it here. It is said to be the north of Shandong Province. It was in the area of Wuding Mansion, and the rain was even greater. The Yellow River is a harmful river, in case of a break. And the people who will be afflicted will be multiplied. ”

Where is Wuding Mansion, Huang Jinhui also knew when he was studying at the military academy in the camp, and of the more than 100 soldiers in front of him, seventy percent did not know what to do, and nine out of nine had never been there. But it doesn't matter, Huang Jinhui continues to do his "ideological" work, which is a skill that every chief officer must have.

"You may think, Wuding Mansion is six hundred miles away from us, and his side is in trouble, what does it matter to us?" Huang Jinhui's eyes swept the queue sternly, "If you have this kind of thought, you are very wrong!" It's not a soldier of the Mengshan Army! When I was studying at the military academy, Commander Long personally said more than once that the Mengshan Army was a soldier of the people, and it was necessary to know how to love and help the people. If your family lives on the edge of the Yellow River, are you in a hurry now? Therefore, this flood fight should be regarded as a real battle! Huang Jinhui wanted to say a few more words, but he couldn't remember the words for a while, "Well, that's it, do you still have any questions?" "This is also the rule, a rule for the company commander level alone - to allow subordinates - including ordinary soldiers to ask questions after the assignment is completed.

In the Mengshan Army, the company commander is an extremely special post.

"Report," the deputy company commander and platoon commander raised his hand.

"Say."

"If it's to prevent a break, why do you bring a full set of weapons?"

The six-day march of 600 miles was not difficult for the Mengshan army, which had always maintained a high level of intensity in military training. But carrying a weapon and not carrying a weapon are two different concepts entirely. Makqin, for example, needs to be carried by four strong soldiers.

"Is this still going to be asked?" With a sneering look on his face, Huang Jinhui knew that the deputy company commander of the Dao Dao was very dissatisfied with himself coming out of thin air and taking away the position that seemed to belong to him, "We are the army, not the people!" What should I do if I encounter an enemy situation? Who else has it? ”

No one raised their hand again.

"Stand upright! Pack up, have breakfast at seven o'clock tomorrow morning, and leave on time at half past seven. The marching sequence was one platoon, two platoons, company headquarters, three platoons. Got it? ”

"Understood."

"Disband!"

Of course, Huang Jinhui didn't know what to do, but in fact, this time the Mengshan Army was the main force, and the direct team, the first standard, the second standard and the two battalions of the reserve, all started to go north to assist in the embankment.

In 1901, the Yellow River was executed at the junction of Shandong and Henan, and in 1902, the Yellow River broke again in Shandong. Zhou Fu may not be responsible for the rupture of the previous year, but he must be responsible for last year's accident. For this, he was reprimanded by the imperial court and fined for half a year. If it weren't for the fact that Lunan's new deal had become the moral and political role of the Empress Dowager of the West, Zhou Fu might have taken off his black gauze hat. Last year's verdict was reported by the government to be 2,000 deaths, but everyone knows that the actual number is more than 10 times larger.

After Li Hongzhang's banner fell, Zhou Fu no longer had excellent Olympic aid in the DPRK.

Cixi knew that the good handling of the new policy in Lunan was entirely due to Long Qian's work, but it was not easy for Zhou Fu to be unrestrained. So, it was just a reprimand. As for the fines, it's a joke. Since the Ming Dynasty, the official's salary is symbolic, like Zhou Fu's position as governor, and the annual salary is only 160 taels. The governor of a province is not enough to hire a servant.

But Zhou Fu couldn't let the river defense go wrong anymore. Aside from the imperial court, the Yellow River broke last year, and Shandong suffered serious losses. The government's daily expenses have been reduced by 30%. Every natural disaster means a reduction in taxes, and in this respect, the principal heads of the government do not want a natural disaster, and it is a different matter for the filthy officials who have made up their minds to embezzle relief materials.

When inspecting Yizhou in early summer, Long Qian pointed out that there was a lot of rain in Lunan this year. But I don't know what happens to other places in Shandong. Of course, Zhou Fu understood what Long Qian meant, and he had already sent commissioners to inspect the river defense and urge all parts of the river to take strict precautions.

The Yellow River enters Shandong from Caozhou, passes through Tai'an Mansion and Jinan Mansion all the way to the northeast, enters Wuding Mansion and enters the sea. The distance is long, and the complexity of the river defense situation is still higher than that of Henan Province. Zhou Fu had a headache. When he had a night talk with Long Qian, Tang Shaoyi, and others at the Yizhou State Guest House, Long Qian made a suggestion that the army should be the main focus on flood control this time. Raising soldiers for a thousand days and using soldiers for a while, you can't always eat the people's offerings, and the people stand by when they are in trouble. Zhou Fu was greatly appreciative, and adopted Long Qian's suggestion in this regard, and asked Long Qian's department to prepare for the flood once he received the official letter from the governor Yamen.

Long Qian further suggested that if you want to be foolproof in river defense, you must be responsible. It must be decided which paragraph is responsible for whom. Our army is stationed in Yizhou and Yanzhou, and from the distance, our army is responsible for a section of Tai'an ~ Jinan. The Caozhou section can be taken care of by the Caozhou garrison, and the Wuding section can be taken care of by the Jinan garrison.

The river defense distance of Tai'an ~ Jinan accounts for half of the total mileage, and Long Qian's courage to take the initiative to carry the burden is enough, which makes Zhou Fu very moved. Immediately agreed to Long Qian's suggestion.

Long Qian continued to suggest that the army is the mainstay, which does not mean that it depends entirely on the army. If you look at the map, you will know that the army of several thousand people is scattered, and there are not a few soldiers in one mile! In case of a break, there is no time to prevent blockage. Therefore, it is also necessary for local governments to gather strong and strong, prepare materials, obey the command of the army, and do a good job in the logistics of the army.

This means that in the event of a crisis, the local government will be at the disposal of the army. But Zhou Fu really couldn't allow the Yellow River to have any more problems in Shandong, so this one was also approved.

Long Qian continued to suggest that the risk of river prevention is nothing more than the flood peak. However, there are signs from the formation of the flood peak to the arrival, once the upstream forms the flood peak, it is necessary to report it quickly and know it to the downstream, and the ancient method of beacon fire transmission can also be used. Prepare early.

For this suggestion, Zhou Fu was very impressed and naturally adopted it.

Zhou Fu and Long Qian also agreed on the issue of military funding for the troops, and the rations were naturally provided in full by the local government, at least according to the standard of two catties per capita per day, and vegetables were supplied by the local government according to the standard of three yuan per day for every ten people. In addition, the army worked hard in the field, and the government gave another subsidy, according to the standard of two coins a day per person, directly paid to the right wing headquarters of the Wasion Army, and did not pay individuals.

After Zhou Fu returned to Jinan, it rained twice in just ten days. This made Zhou Fu afraid, although he had not yet received the urgent documents of river prevention in various places, but it was necessary to prevent trouble, so he immediately summoned Feng Guozhang, the governor of Shandong, to discuss flood control in different areas.

Who knew that Feng Guozhang shook his head as soon as he heard that he wanted to make his troops the main force of river defense, and when he heard that he had to change the defense, he would completely quit. Feng Guozhang, who has been depressed for the past two years, settled down and began to explain his difficulties to Zhou Fu.

Let's talk about Caozhou first. The Caozhou garrison was no more than a battalion, and the number of soldiers was insufficient. It's not a joke to rely on about 400 people to collect such a long section of river defense. The situation of the army in other regions is also well known, and when the battle is full, there are only seven battalions of decent soldiers under my command! What those patrol battalions look like, adults know. Several times I have proposed to expand the army, but your lord always refuses to allow it on the grounds that there is no money, and now even if you count those defense brothers, there are only five or six thousand people! How can you hold half of the river defense? Long Qian, he has this ability, but I, Feng Guozhang, don't! It's not that you don't obey the orders of your lord, you can help defend it, and my soldiers will be the mainstay, and it won't work! If you insist on following Long Qian's nonsense, please remove me as a commander first.

Of course, Zhou Fu could not remove Feng Guozhang from his position as commander. The power to appoint and dismiss the commander of the provincial military district is not in his hands, but in the Ministry of National Defense (Ministry of War).

Zhou Fu knew that Feng Guozhang would not buy his own account, he only recognized Yuan Shikai. Although Yuan Shikai threw him in Shandong in the past two years, he was resentful. In particular, the Central Military Training Department was established, and former colleagues occupied important positions one after another

This is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that the imperial court has finally decided to train a new type of army, and the names of the six towns have been drawn up! Feng Guozhang has no idea to call a ghost! Last spring, Yuan Shikai formed a new army of three associations, and according to Feng's qualifications, it was okay to occupy a position as an assistant commander, but he was the governor of Shandong, so naturally he had no share.

It was impossible not to make Feng Shi angry, but he was still Yuan Shikai's man and would not get on his own boat. (To be continued......)