After the Battle of Kharkov, in early July, Long Qian held a special meeting in Beijing to study military issues. There are three topics to be proposed: The first is the Russian war situation, which holds that the Russian war has entered a new stage, and the country's strategy toward Russia should be adjusted in an all-round way, and the strategic goal is to assist Russia in striking at the German-Austrian Allies in order to gain a more favorable position in diplomacy, economy, and national defense, and to consolidate the regime of Great Russia and establish a new regime that has long been friendly with China and is politically and economically dependent on China. the second is the praise and promotion of a group of senior generals; The third is the next step of national defense focus, the setting up of the military's top-level organs, and the adjustment of some military personnel.

At the opening ceremony, Long Qian clearly said that with the development of domestic and foreign affairs, the national defense system must be adjusted, but this time it is only a retreat, the expeditionary force is still fighting in Russia, and the war in Western Europe is still going on. However, discussion and study are necessary, and it is rare to get so many high-ranking generals together so that everyone can speak their minds freely, especially comrades from various military regions, who do not have many opportunities to come to Beijing in normal times, and it is better to talk and argue in person than to take a telegram.

The meeting lasted seven days. In the first three days, the development trend of the Russian war situation and the adjustment of the center of gravity of national defense were analyzed and studied, and the General Staff was under the auspices of the General Staff. The last three days were studied for the construction and adjustment of defense institutions, which were presided over by the Ministry of Defense. On the last day, the scope was expanded, and the principal heads of the Government Council and the two houses of the National Assembly were invited to attend the meeting, and Long Qian personally commended and promoted a number of senior generals, announced the personnel adjustment plan, and finally made a concluding speech.

Long Qian only attended the whole meeting, but during this period, he set up a family banquet according to the old habit to invite the generals who went to Beijing from other places.

For the Russian war situation. The meeting reached a relatively unanimous opinion, holding that splitting Russia is of far-reaching significance to China and has great benefits. Therefore, the Great Russian State should be vigorously supported, especially at the present stage, and the task of the expeditionary force is to annihilate or inflict heavy damage on the main forces of the Red Army, but not to completely defeat them. The command of the campaign should be handed over to the headquarters of the expeditionary force for the specific selection of the battlefield. The opinion of the General Staff was that the center of gravity of Great Russia should be shifted to the east, and that the forces should not be divided evenly and that they should not neglect each other.

When it comes to China's defense focus, the military is almost always radical. He advocated the continued expansion of the territory. Recovering rights and territories that have been lost in history. In terms of specific directions, it was divided into three factions: southward, westward and northward. The southward faction, represented by Hu Zongyu, believed that Vietnam should be supported for independence when France had no time to look eastward. The reason for this faction is that both the northward and westward expansion are economic inputs, and the benefits are not visible for the time being, while the southward expansion is not, and the investment is small but the harvest is large; The westward faction is represented by the feudal pillar. It is believed that the northwest has always been China's soft underbelly. I don't know how many of the downfall of the central power came from the turmoil in the northwest. At present, there are still factors of instability in Xinjiang. Now that Russia has opened up Central Asia, this is a golden opportunity, and the division of Russia has made it impossible for them to look south. If you don't take this opportunity, you will have a grudge for eternity. He advocated the first step of completely eliminating the separatist forces in Xinjiang, and then marching into the homeland of the Han and Tang Dynasties to expand the territory and open up the territory and completely solve the northwest issue; The Northern Advance faction, represented by Cheng Erhu and Zhang Zuolin, believed that it was the best choice to take the opportunity to expel Japan, recover the rights and interests of southern Liaoning, and seize Vladivostok; under such circumstances, Great Russia did not dare to say anything, Japan was by no means an opponent of China, let alone an expeditionary force, and as long as the forces of the Northern Military Region, the Central Military Region, and the garrison were mobilized, Japan could be completely driven out of Chinese territory.

There was no consensus on this.

With regard to the establishment and adjustment of national defense institutions, some people have proposed the establishment of an army general command. Since the Navy Command and the Air Force Command have been established, and the President has always advocated the coordinated development of the Army and Navy, it seems that it is not so smooth for the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff to assume the command of the Army. Inevitably, the question of the status of the military apparatus raises the question. The current situation is that the three general departments of the Ministry of National Defense, the General Staff Headquarters, and the Joint Logistics Headquarters are the highest, with the Ministry of National Defense in charge of personnel and funds, the General Staff in charge of operations, training, and military education, and the Joint Logistics Headquarters in charge of logistics. But the status of the Joint Logistics Headquarters seems to be lower than that of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff. Under the General Staff Headquarters, several branches of the armed forces have been set up, such as artillery, engineering troops, and signal troops, but the personnel and funds of these departments are under the control of the Ministry of National Defense, and they have become dual leaders. In addition, the relationship between the large military regions and the arms departments is also rather chaotic, and on the whole, the arms departments are suspected of pointing fingers, and several commanders of the military regions have raised this issue.

However, the establishment of the Army Command will strictly affect the status of the Ministry of National Defense, so Marshal Feng Guozhu, who presided over the meeting, was very unhappy, and Situ Jun persuaded him, since the president has drawn up this topic, let everyone say, in the end, there is no presidential check.

Since the implementation of the military rank system after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the military rank has become a "famous position" parallel to the position, and because of a series of victories in the outside world since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the status of the military personnel is extremely high, especially the officers have been greatly respected, and the officers' positions cannot be seen, but the military ranks are placed there at a glance. Therefore, the desire for promotion is not inferior to promotion, not to mention that military ranks and positions are linked. At the beginning of the implementation of the military rank system, the establishment of military ranks was relatively low, and there were only a few generals in the whole army, all of whom were veterans of the national defense forces. But after participating in the European War, everyone's horizons have broadened, and there have been more contacts with foreign armies, and they are also army commanders, who are lieutenant generals, and they are major generals, and they feel inferior. There has always been a call to be in line with the world's mainstream. Moreover, the promotion of senior generals of the National Defense Force is very strict, and it is rare to be promoted without military merits, and most of the generals who were promoted came from the Battle of Shandong and the Russian War, so that the generals who did not have the opportunity to participate in the war have great opinions, such as Lan Xinzhi, Hu Zongyu, Cheng Erhu and others. At this military seminar, the two strongly requested to go to Russia to participate in the war, but they were reprimanded by Feng Guozhu and Ye Yanbing -- they both went to Russia to fight, who cares about the large military region? Who trains soldiers?

They knew that the generals of the expeditionary force would definitely "take advantage" again, and there was no way, who would let the family have a chance to fight? Xiong Xun was promoted to general because of the Romanian campaign, and Wu Peifu was promoted to lieutenant general because of the Bodong campaign.

Hu Zongyu knew that Feng Guozhu must know the inside story, as the Minister of Defense in charge of personnel. Feng Guozhu must know the details of the plan, so he privately asked Feng Guozhu about the situation, and was reprimanded by Feng - you don't know the character of the president? What are you asking about? What should be yours is yours, and you can't run. If it's not yours, you can't fight for it.

Until the last day, Long Qian first announced the promotion of senior generals.

Wang Mingyuan, commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, was unsurprisingly promoted to field marshal.

Wu Nian, Cheng Erhu, Lan Xinzhi, Hu Zongyu, Qu Hongxiang, Cao Kun, and Feng Guozhang were promoted to army generals, and Fan Deping and Sa Zhenbing were promoted to admirals.

Fifteen people, including Du Sanli, Huang Jinhui, Jiang Fangzhen, Ding Xiaofu, Yan Shulin, Zhang Zuoxiang, Xue Xiaocai, Guo Haichang, Gao Huzi, Zhang Xiaozhun, Jiang Cunxian, Cai Yi, Chi Chunxian, Han Ziying, and Liang Huada, were promoted to lieutenant generals, Jin Ruigong, Jiang Yiliu, Li Zhun, and Li Yuanhong were appointed vice admirals, and Long Hongyuan was appointed vice admiral.

A number of brigadier generals and colonels with outstanding military achievements were promoted to major generals and brigadier generals, and their ranks were announced and promoted by various military regions, headquarters organs, and expeditionary force headquarters.

Marshal Wang Mingyuan was appointed Minister of National Defense, and Marshal Feng Guozhu was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force. The two most important Wehrmacht giants made a switch again. This cannot be regarded as a "denunciation" of Wang Mingyuan. On the contrary, it attaches importance to Wang Mingyuan. The expeditionary force has already achieved results that have attracted the attention of the world, and its mission has been basically completed.

Long Qian took off the script to explain the reason for the promotion: merit. It's entirely merit-based. Merit does not come from the battlefield alone. Management and training are equally important. Several comrades who were promoted from lieutenant general to general. They have made great contributions to the cause of national defense in their respective positions and deserve to be promoted. The commanders of the large military regions and the deputy commanders-in-chief of the navy and air force are all ranked higher in the ranks of generals, and they are completely in accordance with the regulations. Long Qian specifically mentioned two people. The first was Van der Ping, who believed that he had made great achievements in Russia and deserved to be promoted. The second is Sa Zhenbing, who assisted Commander Fang Shijun in making outstanding achievements in naval construction and is fully worthy of the rank of admiral. Some of those who should have been promoted have not been promoted, so find out the reason for yourself. Of course, you can plead and tell me, but if you have a fuss about it, I'm sorry, I ignore it, and if it's not like it, I'll strip him of his military uniform. In short, cherish the honor and often think about it, is your contribution worthy of the star on the epaulettes?

Long Qian did not have a clear direction for the determination of the focus of national defense, but he said that everyone had seen the opinions discussed and was very inspired. This is a very important question, and we will continue to think about it today.

With regard to the adjustment of the highest management structure of the National Defense Forces, Long Qian believes that under the current circumstances, the strength of the Navy and Air Force is still not equal to that of the Army, and the National Defense Forces are still dominated by the Army, and there is no need to set up an Army Headquarters for the time being, and the Ministry of National Defense is the Army Headquarters. When the navy and air force develop to a certain level, the army command will be established.

Regarding the arms headquarters under the General Staff Headquarters, Long Qian believes that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Not only can it not be canceled, but it should be strengthened. The headquarters of the arms and the large military regions are at the same level, and they have the right to guide and inspect the military regions, especially the artillery, signal troops, and engineering troops, in terms of training, but the units directly under the jurisdiction of the arms departments, such as the heavy artillery divisions under the direct control of the General Staff Department, can be delegated to the management of the military regions, which is more convenient. Government agencies are divided into sections and blocks, and the same is true for the army, with military regions being blocks and arms departments being sections, each with its own role. Practice has proven that the arms department has made tremendous contributions to the building of special forces, and what it should do is to further straighten out rights and obligations, and make responsibilities and rights as clear as possible.

Next, Feng Guozhu announced a personnel adjustment plan. This is the last time he will perform his duties as defense minister before leaving office.

With Liang Huada as the commander of the railway corps, Huang Jinhui as the commander of the artillery, Jiang Cunxian, who was born in the cavalry, succeeded Zhang Xiaozhun as the commander of the engineering corps, and Jin Ruigong, who had been in charge of the construction of the naval base, was appointed commander of the base. A new headquarters was set up to defend the chemical warfare forces, with Jang Hyo-joon as the commander of the chemical warfare defense forces, to deal with the chemical weapons commonly used in European wars. In particular, the building of the navy and air force has been strengthened, and a large number of brigadier generals and major generals have been transferred to the navy and air force. The most unexpected of these was that Fan Deping was appointed as the first deputy commander-in-chief of the navy and became Fang Shijun's first deputy.

There were also major changes in the commanders of the major military regions: Shi Dashou was transferred back to China to serve as commander of the Northwest Military Region, and Hu Zongyu was appointed commander of the Northern Military Region, Lan Xinzhi was appointed commander of the Southwest Military Region, Qu Hongxiang was appointed commander of the Southeast Military Region, Han Ziying was appointed commander of the garrison region, Cao Kun was appointed commander of the Southern Military Region, and Gao Huzi was appointed deputy commander of the Central Military Region and acting commander.

The positions of the commanders of the military districts were adjusted again, and Gao Huzi, who led the 16th Army to fight in Russia but did not have outstanding combat achievements, was promoted to the rank of regional commander. But at the moment he is still on his way back home.

Cao Kun, who had led his troops into Tibet, was promoted to general and appointed regional commander, breaking with the tradition of the National Defense Forces, and he was the first non-Mengshan general to serve as regional commander, which was of great significance for bridging factional barriers. The reuse of Feng Guozhang, Wu Peifu, Cai Yi, Xu Shuzheng and others is a signal, marking the complete integration of the Beiyang system into the national defense force.

The command structure and principal commanders of the expeditionary force were also adjusted, with General Xiong Xun appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force and commander of the 1st Group Army, Cheng Erhu and Wu Nian as commanders of the 2nd and 3rd Group Armies respectively, Xue Xiaocai as chief of staff, and Xu Shuzheng as deputy chief of staff.

Cheng Erhu, commander of the Northern Military Region, succeeded Shi Dashou, who had returned to China, as he wished, and was sent to the Russian battlefield.

China attaches great importance to Xiong Xunjian's transfer of more troops to Russia for actual combat, and approves the transfer of the 6th, 13th, and 18th armies and the 4th division of the railway corps to Russia. Replace the 16th and 15th Armies, the 2nd Division of the Railway Corps, and the 1st Division of the Heavy Artillery to return home. The Expeditionary Force continued to retain the structure of three army groups.

In his final speech at the meeting, Long Qian focused on the issue of building up the navy and air force, saying, "At present, we are still in charge of the army, especially when the Russian civil war is still ongoing. The size of the army cannot be reduced yet. But this is a big problem. Just look at the colors of the uniforms of the generals here. When the mission of the expeditionary force is completed, we will appropriately reduce the size of the army and expand the size of the navy and air force. This is true for military spending, and it is also true for personnel. This time, he was a little reluctant to transfer Van Deping, who had made great contributions in Russia, to the navy, but after my work, he turned the corner and realized the importance of the navy. Jin Ruigong and Li Yuanhong are the same. In the future, there will be more army generals wearing the uniforms of the navy and air force, and everyone should not be reluctant to let the army go, you must know that the next war may be the leading role of the navy, and the vast Pacific Ocean will be the stage for you to establish immortal feats. Now our Navy is still weak and not yet. However, I believe that with the adjustment of the national defense strategy and the investment of funds, we will slowly catch up with others. Some people worry that they can fight a land war and not be able to build ships, but this is a wrong thinking. It doesn't matter, as long as you are willing to study, you will become an expert. At the beginning, our Mengshan army had only a few hundred people, and we had never even seen a machine gun, so now we don't have a powerful army that can compete with the great powers.

"It's the same with the Air Force. We didn't start late, but because of the poor foundation of our industry, there was such a situation, people quickly caught up and quickly overtook us, and people could build thousands of planes a year, but we could only produce a few hundred, which made the people in the air force very depressed. Shang Fengchun has said this many times, reluctant to let our planes and express his heartache for the huge losses on the Russian battlefield. How can a world-class air force be built without paying a price? General Xiong Xun's report to the General Staff Department is very good, and training can never replace actual combat. He said that the role of a veteran who has participated in several battles is worth the role of several recruits, which is the truth and insight. This is true for the Army, and it is also true for the Air Force. Compared with the navy, the gap between the air force and the European and American powers is not so big, and with the increase of our industrial strength, the production capacity of aircraft will increase exponentially, so the concern of the commander-in-chief is completely unnecessary. The key is not the number of aircraft, but the quality of the aircraft and the quality of the pilots, as well as the level of logistics support of the Air Force. Cheng Jianguo's report to the General Staff said that the attendance rate of the planes has never exceeded 70 percent, that is, three or four out of 10 planes are always repaired on the ground, and this is a big problem. In the future, it is necessary to grasp the key points in the construction of the air force and give top priority to research and development and training, instead of blindly expanding the scale......

"The construction of the railway troops, the engineering troops, the signal corps, and the artillery corps should be strengthened, and the Russian war is a heavy test for the Wehrmacht, and I have always been worried about whether our logistics can be supplied. Wang Shuai praised the logistics department on many occasions and built a meritorious service for the logistics officers and men to receive awards, which is completely deserved. The burden of domestic construction is still very heavy, and the focus of national defense in the next step will be on the northwest, first of all, the railways will be built to Xinjiang, and the construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway has already begun, and it is necessary to continue to strengthen the construction of engineering and railway troops...... The importance of communication issues is not discussed, and there are not many people who do not understand it properly. Huang Jinhui analyzed the role of the two independent heavy artillery divisions and held that there are many problems in the formation of independent heavy artillery divisions, and the role is not as great as imagined. This is a topic in the field of military academia that can be studied for a long time, and the artillery command should study it, and the General Staff Department should study it even more on a special topic. However, artillery building is a long-term task that can only be strengthened, not weakened. This has brought about a new problem, that is, the organization of the troops will develop in the direction of reducing the infantry and strengthening the special forces, and will develop in the direction of forming a composite army, and this is a trend that cannot be changed. Tanks have been put on the battlefield, and we have also fought German tanks in Ukraine, it seems simple, but this thing is definitely a sharp weapon for the army to defeat the enemy, don't underestimate it! In the arsenals in Luoyang and Taiyuan, we have already taken out our own tank samples, and General Xiong Xun is very creative, not only fighting well, but also has his own experience in armored weapons, which makes me very happy. In the near future, we will also form an armored command......

"I know that the gentlemen of the Government and Parliament must have taken into account another issue, namely, military spending. At present, because of the war, military spending is very high, which objectively affects economic construction, especially the construction of infrastructure. At present, we are studying military issues, but the generals of the armed forces must pay attention to the economy and the people's livelihood, and must not follow the road of reckless military force. Our country is still very poor, although the economic development has made great achievements in the past eight years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, surpassing Japan in terms of economic aggregate, but it is still very poor, especially the peasants' life is still very hard, according to the investigation of the relevant departments of the Government Council, the per capita real annual income of the peasants is less than 200 yuan! After the end of the Russian war, we will reduce the strength of the army and make great efforts to do a good job in the building of the reserve force, so that we can fight and win when called upon. The Americans expanded the size of their army from 200,000 to 4,000,000 within a year, and the American troops sent to France composed entirely of new recruits have become the main force to fight the German army......

Long Qian finally emphasized discipline, "Discipline is the basis for guaranteeing victory. The army is the most rule-oriented organization, and discipline is the rule. Experience has long proven that whether a unit can win a battle depends not on weapons, but on discipline. In recent years, the Ministry of National Defense, the General Staff Headquarters, and the Joint Logistics Headquarters have issued quite a few documents, and they are all rules and disciplines that must be enforced. But the reality is that there are always people who don't take it that seriously. If you like it, you will do it, and if you don't like it, you will be perfunctory or even disobedient. There have been quite a few reports in this regard, and some have been sent directly to the presidential office. In the next step, the three general departments should strengthen the inspection of the implementation of discipline and severely punish a group of unruly bastards. All military regions, headquarters and organs should also strictly conduct self-inspection! The expeditionary force shed blood and died abroad, and the reckless behavior of staying at home will never be allowed. Again, don't think that you have qualifications, you can put your qualifications if you have merit, and you don't follow the rules, let me make it clear to you, especially the generals from the Mengshan Army, I don't care about face, if you make a mistake, you will deal with it as a mistake, and if you commit a crime, you will be dealt with according to military law!

"Peace is not far away, the war in Europe is coming to an end, don't look at the Germans still retaining the sharp offensive momentum in some theaters, but it is just a return to the past. After the end of the European war, a new pattern will emerge in the world situation, and we have won this battle and taken back some things that belong to us for the country and the nation, which is the glory of the army, and it is also the result of the people of the whole country cutting back on food and clothing to support the army. After the situation in Russia stabilizes, the expeditionary force will of course return to China, and the army will be transferred to a peaceful situation, so you must adapt to this new situation, do a good job in training, vigorously support economic construction, and continue to carry forward the fine traditions of the Mengshan Army...... The army must support the localities, but it is not allowed to interfere in local administrative affairs! ”

Fang Shengyuan, Song Jiaoren, Hong Yuecheng, Chen Chao, Tang Shaoyi and others attended the meeting as observers. The government and parliament cannot interfere in the promotion and adjustment of senior generals, and it is entirely an internal affair of the army. But several people thought of a question almost at the same time, if Long Qian really abdicated at the end of his second term, who would be in control of the army? Long Qian can teach the army a lesson freely, but they can't do it anyway, considering the hidden dangers, Fang Sheng is far from it, and even Hong Yuecheng is worried. (To be continued......)