LRAB Chapter 20: The Voices of the Reorganization of the German-Equipped Reinforced Battalion
Chapter 20: The Voices of the Reorganization of the German-Equipped Reinforced Battalion
[Unlimited Pay-to-Win System]
Host: Chen Zijun
Identity: Commander-in-Chief of the Shanghai Garrison, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui
Current funds: £2,334,716 (+£1 per second)
Unlocked technologies:
Army: Mauser 98k rifle, MG34 general purpose machine gun, Krupp 75mm infantry gun, 105mm howitzer
Navy: German UBIII-class submarine blueprints
Military industry: Sulfonamide mass production technology (98% complete), steel smelting technology
Medical: Field first aid tent, basic military medic training equipment kit
Logistics: Military Compressed Rations Production Line
Finance: Physical GBP Exchange Channel
Available for purchase (updated in real time):
SdKfz.7 half-track artillery tractor: £1.2/vehicle (newly unlocked)
105mm howitzer ammunition load (500 rounds): £3000
75mm infantry gun ammunition load (1000 rounds): £1800
The complete set of equipment for the Krupp arms factory: £800 million
More than 80,000 yuan less in funds.
The nearly £800,000 I spent at HSBC yesterday is already starting to recoup its losses automatically. At a rate of one pound per second, it should be fully recovered in about ten days.
But Chen Zijun isn't concerned about money right now.
He stared at the newly unlocked half-track tractor in the system, his eyes narrowing slightly.
This thing is just the right size to pull a 105mm howitzer.
He placed an order. Twelve vehicles.
10:00 AM, VIP Lounge on the third floor of the Peace Hotel.
Shen Li stood at the door, looking at the person sitting opposite him, and couldn't help but frown.
Hu Quanzhang, the special envoy of the Fengtian clique, was in his forties, sported a small mustache, wore a brand-new woolen general's uniform, and had a large jade thumb ring on his hand.
He sat with his legs crossed, a cigar dangling from his mouth, his eyes filled with condescending arrogance.
It seems like he's not here to negotiate, but to collect rent.
When Chen Zijun walked in, Hu Quanzhang didn't even stand up.
"Commander Chen, I've heard so much about you."
He sat in his chair and cupped his hands in greeting. "The commander-in-chief asked me to pass on a message to you—the Zhili-Fengtian War is over, the situation in the north is settled, and it's time to deal with the south."
Chen Zijun sat down opposite him and picked up his teacup.
"What are General Zhang's instructions?"
Hu Quanzhang took out a document stamped with a large red seal from his briefcase and pushed it onto the table.
Three things.
He held up three fingers.
"First, effective immediately, all customs revenue in Shanghai will be directly managed by the central government."
Shen Li's expression changed.
"Second, the Shanghai Garrison Command was reduced to 10,000 troops, and all surplus weapons were handed over to the central government for unified allocation."
Shen Li's hand was already on the holster at his waist.
"third."
Hu Quanzhang exhaled a smoke ring and smiled smugly, "The Marshal requests that Commander Chen or your father travel north to Beiping to report for duty, with no more than one hundred people accompanying them."
The translation is: hand over the money, the gun, and the person.
As for the so-called central government, everyone knows that when Marshal Yuan ascended the throne as the Hongxian Emperor, and later died, the central government became the Anhui clique.
After the Zhili-Anhui War, the central government was controlled by the Zhili clique.
Now the Zhili clique has been defeated by the Fengtian clique, and the central government is now controlled by the Fengtian clique.
General Zhang was quite quick to adopt it as the official standard.
The entire VIP room was silent for a full five seconds.
Shen Li's temples were throbbing.
Chen Zijun put down his teacup and glanced down at the document.
Then he laughed.
"Special Envoy Hu, before you came to Shanghai, did you inquire about what kind of unit the Chen family army was?"
Hu Quanzhang was taken aback.
"Young Marshal, forgive my bluntness. The Fengtian clique has 300,000 elite troops outside the Great Wall. After entering the Great Wall, with the addition of the Zhili clique troops that were annexed, the full strength is 500,000. Young Marshal Zhang's First Division is fully equipped with Japanese weapons, with 20,000 Type 38 rifles alone. Although your territory in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is good, your troops... are really too thin."
Chen Zijun stood up.
"Walk."
"Where to?"
"Let me show you something."
A convoy of five military jeeps departed from the Peace Hotel and headed southwest.
Forty minutes later, the convoy stopped in an open area on the outskirts of Songjiang.
This is the newly built temporary training ground for Chen Jiajun's army.
When Hu Quanzhang got off the vehicle, the first thing he saw was a reinforced battalion lined up in neat rows.
Gray-green steel helmets. Crisp gray military uniforms. Each person wore an armband with the Iron Cross insignia pinned to their chest. The rifles were uniformly made of a style he had never seen before—the barrels were shorter than those of the Type 38 rifle, but the gun bodies were noticeably more precise.
He didn't recognize him.
But Shen Li, who was standing next to him, recognized him.
The Mauser 98k was a newly designed rifle that the Germans had just finalized.
In all of China, only Chen's army has this.
"These...are all German-made?" Hu Quanzhang's voice was a little weak.
Chen Zijun didn't answer, but simply nodded at Shen Li.
Shen Li raised the signal gun and fired a shot into the air.
Red fireworks exploded in mid-air.
Three seconds later, the ground began to tremble.
Twelve 105mm Krupp howitzers fired simultaneously.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The shell whistled overhead and struck the small hill three kilometers away with pinpoint accuracy. A burst of fire shot into the sky, and the entire hilltop was engulfed in billowing smoke and dust.
Hu Quanzhang's body suddenly shrank.
Before the cannon fire had even stopped, a second salvo came.
This time it was twenty-four 75mm infantry guns. The barrage was as dense as a torrential rain, turning the open space in front of the hill upside down.
Then came the heavy machine guns.
Eight Maxim water-cooled heavy machine guns fired simultaneously, bullets sweeping across the firing range like fiery snakes. Wooden dummy targets were torn to shreds in the hail of bullets.
The entire training ground was filled with smoke, and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and dirt.
The teacup in Hu Quanzhang's hand fell to the ground and shattered.
His legs were shaking.
He served in the army for twenty years and saw both Beiyang mountain guns and Japanese field guns.
But he had never seen this kind of firepower before.
This is not war. This is massacre.
The shelling stopped.
The smoke from the gunpowder slowly dissipated in the wind.
Chen Zijun stood in front of Hu Quanzhang with his hands behind his back, speaking in a very calm tone.
"Special Envoy Hu, you just said that the Fengtian clique has 500,000 men?"
Hu Quanzhang's lips were trembling.
"Do you know how many people a reinforced battalion could hold off with that kind of firepower?"
Hu Quanzhang was speechless.
"I'll tell you."
Chen Zijun leaned closer to him and lowered his voice, "A reinforced battalion like this, with full artillery support, can rout a full-strength Beiyang division head-on. Take this back and tell Marshal Zhang that I will handle the affairs of Jiangsu and Zhejiang myself. If he wants customs revenue, let him come and get it himself."
Hu Quanzhang's face was as white as a sheet of paper.
"Young Marshal Chen... I'm just delivering a message..."
"Just pass on the message."
Chen Zijun patted his shoulder, the pressure neither too light nor too heavy, "Tell Zhang Jialiang everything you saw today. Don't omit a single word."
Hu Quanzhang's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.
Shen Li walked over with a cold smile on his face.
"Young Marshal, this Special Envoy Hu is probably dreaming of the sound of artillery shells ever since he got back."
Chen Zijun ignored him.
He looked at the soldiers packing up their equipment on the training field, already thinking about something else.
This reinforced battalion was just an appetizer.
He wanted an entire German-equipped division. No, a full division was just the beginning.
The troops he currently has in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, at most those with official organization, are the 4th Division and 10th Division of the Central Army, the 19th Division which revolted from the Jiangsu battlefield, the 6th Independent Mixed Brigade, and the 5th Independent Mixed Brigade which he himself incorporated.
As for the four newly formed army divisions in Zhejiang Province, the garrison brigade and tax police regiment in Shanghai, and the newly formed First Army Division of Jiangsu Province in southern Jiangsu...
These troops didn't even have official designations; they were simply provincial militias.
They want to reorganize, but they lack a legitimate reason.
But reorganizing three divisions and two independent mixed brigades is no easy task...
Money alone is not enough. You also need steel, coal, and your own arms factories.
Ma'anshan.
That is one of China's largest iron ore producing areas, only 300 kilometers away from Shanghai.
The site selection team he sent out should have returned three days ago.
Just then, Shen Li walked over again.
This time, his expression wasn't good.
"Young Marshal, something has happened in Ma'anshan."
Chen Zijun's brow twitched slightly.
"Our men, whom we sent to select a site for the coal and steel complex, were detained by a local warlord in Anhui. The leader, a man named Ma Qiu, had a regiment of soldiers stationed in Dangtu County. He detained our men, claiming that the land was his territory and demanding 500,000 silver dollars to ransom them."
Chen Zijun remained silent for two seconds.
Then he turned around and looked at the reinforced battalion that had just finished an exercise on the training field.
"I remember that Uncle He Maofeng's Sixth Independent Mixed Brigade was closest to Ma'anshan."
"Yes."
"Let him take a battalion with him."
"A battalion? Against a regiment?"
Chen Zijun gave a cold laugh.
"How many men do you think would be needed to deal with a ragtag regiment with the firepower of that reinforced battalion?"
Shen Li opened his mouth, then suddenly laughed.
"I will go and relay the order immediately."