The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 493 Preparations before Departure
September 1939, 9, Commando Corps Headquarters

All the units under He Wei's command, including the company commander and above of the assault corps, the battalion commanders of the five replenishment battalions of the first replenishment training department, Ding Lunshi, director of the general affairs department of the assault corps, and the chief officers of the subordinate clothing factory, the rear wounded soldier hospital, and the wounded soldier farm were all gathered in the corps conference room.

All those attending the meeting were under He Wei's command, or the backbone of He Wei's small group.

Among the dozens of officers sitting upright, the colonels were the three infantry battalion commanders Fu Chen, Fang Jing, and Hu Zhaowu, the artillery battalion commander Chen Xinsheng, as well as the company commander of the direct search company Zhao Zhanhai and the chief of staff Lieutenant Colonel Wang Yuanling, the director of the logistics department Major Li Youcai, and the battalion commander of the independent motorcade battalion 3 currently assigned to the assault corps Major Sun Fa.

The rest are naturally lieutenants, but these lieutenants are not ordinary people.

Among these lieutenants, except for a few staff officers who were responsible for taking minutes of the meeting, the rest were all officers with the rank of captain or above. Some of them were company commanders of the most core basic companies of the assault corps, some were section chiefs of the general staff office, all of them were core cadres of the combat forces of the assault corps and the core backbone of the assault corps. Some of them were the most grassroots and capable officers in charge of troops, and some were the business backbones of the general staff office. Everyone of them could be called a dragon among men.

Moreover, every company commander and every section chief were selected and promoted by He Wei himself. They are the core backbone of the assault corps to exert strong combat effectiveness.

The five battalion commanders of the First Replacement Soldier Training Department were no ordinary people either. These five battalion commanders with the rank of captain were of the same rank as the captains of the Assault Corps who were also present. They were all outstanding lieutenants or captains of the Assault Corps and had made outstanding achievements in the Battle of Wuhan. However, after being promoted and commended, these people did not continue to serve in the Assault Corps, but were transferred to the five recruit battalions under the First Replacement Soldier Training Department as battalion commanders.

These officers did not stay in the Assault Corps but were transferred to the First Supplementary Soldier Training Department. It was not because they were not good enough, but in He Wei's view, the First Supplementary Soldier Training Department was equally important as a source of new recruits and reserve force for the Assault Corps, and it also needed outstanding officers and cadres to serve as chief officers. These five battalion commanders with the rank of captain were naturally elite talents in the army.

Sitting at the front of the long conference table were undoubtedly the captains and lieutenants of the assault corps' combat forces, followed by the five battalion commanders of the First Supplementary Soldier Training Department. In the military atmosphere that highly advocates the use of force, the powerful officers of the assault corps' combat forces naturally had a transcendent core position in He Wei's small group and naturally sat in the front row.

Compared with the Assault Corps, the recruit troops of the First Supply Department are definitely less important, so the battalion commanders of the five recruit supply battalions sit behind the officers of the Assault Corps.

There is definitely a chain of contempt in any group, especially in the military. The chain of contempt in the military is actually quite simple. Whoever can fight, whoever has made more achievements on the battlefield, is awesome and is the boss. Such a chain of contempt is rough and simple. The same is true for the assault corps, and the seating arrangement in the conference room is an excellent reflection of this principle.

In comparison, the senior cadres under the General Affairs Office who are in charge of various non-combat operations, miscellaneous items, and general affairs must sit further back. However, these cadres who are not in charge of combat operations are also in high spirits and full of energy today.

Ding Lunshi, director of the General Affairs Department, was also in high spirits today. He changed into a yellow tweed military uniform that was specially customized at the assault corps' clothing factory to match his obese body. He also wore a full set of belts. The military uniform made Ding Lunshi's originally fat body look less greasy and more energetic.

Of course, there was nothing on Ding Lunshi's military collar badge. Although this comprador-born Director of the General Affairs Department of the Assault Corps enjoyed the military position given to him by He Wei, he also knew that his position was a black official. He only looked like a soldier on the surface, and his salary was equivalent to that of a major general in the army and was paid in cash.

Therefore, Ding Lunshi did not give himself a military rank. If he had really followed He Wei's initial words and worn the rank of major general that matched the treatment of a major general, then Ding Lunshi's military rank would be higher than He Wei's. If he really did that, it would be a lot of fun.

Beside Ding Lunshi were Huang Shengmo, director of the assault corps' clothing factory, Tang Jie, director of the rear wounded soldiers' hospital, and Ge Guicai, director of the wounded soldiers' farm. Compared with Ding Lunshi, these three were much more low-key. They were all wearing gray winter cotton training uniforms of the National Army. Huang Shengmo, director of the clothing factory who was given the equivalent of a colonel's salary by He Wei, also had no military rank. Tang Jie, director of the rear wounded soldiers' hospital, and Ge Guicai, director of the wounded soldiers' farm, held the ranks of major and captain respectively.

There is no need to say much about Ge Guicai. He was He Wei's old squad leader when he was a platoon leader. He and He Wei had a deep relationship. After appointing Ge Guicai as the director of the wounded soldiers farm, He Wei promoted Ge Guicai to the rank of captain in order to facilitate the management of Ge Guicai and improve his treatment.

Major Tang Jie, the director of the rear wounded soldiers hospital, is a fresh blood joining He Wei's army. He graduated from the medical school of National Jinling University and went abroad for further studies. After returning to China, he joined the National Army's Army Medical School as a non-active military medical instructor with a high level of medical skills. He is also an old friend of Major Ling Zhi, the current director of the Military Medical Department of the Assault Corps and director of the field hospital.

This time, He Wei entrusted Ling Zhi to take the lead in setting up the rear wounded soldiers hospital and expanding the front field hospital. Ling Zhi naturally recruited a large number of medical talents to serve in the assault corps, and Tang Jie was naturally among them. Ling Zhi also strongly recommended Tang Jie to He Wei as the director of the rear wounded soldiers hospital. In terms of the medical services of the army, He Wei always respected Ling Zhi, so he readily agreed to Ling Zhi's recommendation and appointed Tang Jie as the director of the rear wounded soldiers hospital. He also directly reported to the Personnel Office and made an exception to apply for the rank of major for Tang Jie, making him an active-duty officer.

Tang Jie did not disappoint He Wei's expectations of him. After taking office, he quickly built a hospital for wounded soldiers in the rear. He actively used his personal connections to continuously recruit medical professionals to assist Ling Zhi and made great contributions to the medical aspect of the assault corps.

All kinds of people in He Wei's small group, whether it is the combat troops of the Assault Corps, the reserve recruits of the First Supplementary Soldier Training Department, or the cadres responsible for logistics support in the General Affairs Office, all perform their duties in their respective positions, shine and do an excellent job. It is not an exaggeration to describe them as a group of talented people.

However, the conference room where this group of elite talents gathered was extremely quiet, and in the atmosphere behind this silence, there was depression, confusion, doubt, and even expectation.

The conference room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The officers in the room all looked thoughtful, but He Wei had not entered the conference room yet. If it were any other time, this group of energetic and high-spirited officers would have already started whispering to each other. How could it be so quiet like it is now?
In fact, the recent situation is really not right. Because of He Wei's unreasonable order, the strict, or even rigorous, training of the Assault Corps and the First Supplementary Soldier Training Department has been further strengthened. Especially for the Assault Corps, which is the main combat force, various training subjects close to actual combat, such as basic tactics and live ammunition shooting, have been greatly strengthened, completely in accordance with the way of strengthening training before war.

In addition, He Wei also ordered the Assault Corps and the General Affairs Office to count and maintain the various stock of ammunition and weapons and equipment in the ammunition depot. The imported machine gun bullets and artillery shells that He Wei regarded as treasures were all pulled out of the warehouse for inspection. Various weapon parts and accessories in the warehouse, from the sights of mountain guns and field guns, spare breech parts to the gun cleaning cloths, cleaning rods and oil bottles used for rifle maintenance were also pulled out one by one for maintenance and inspection.

The situation in the General Affairs Office was also filled with a war atmosphere. The clothing factory worked day and night, producing tens of thousands of sets of winter military uniforms and spare equipment. Various precious medical supplies purchased from the black market and smuggling channels also flowed into the assault corps' base camp.

All these signs indicate that war is coming. To be more precise, the assault corps is about to go to the front line to fight again.

The cadres present in the conference room had already guessed all this, and while He Wei was issuing various pre-war orders and deploying various war preparations, he did not leak out any news related to the war. In addition, the fact that the attendant's office suddenly sent people to the assault team yesterday, coupled with He Wei's very strange whereabouts recently, further confirmed the cadres' guess that the assault team was about to be launched into combat operations.

But although everyone knows the general idea, it is difficult to guess when the assault corps will go to the front line and which battlefield it will be deployed to. After all, the whole country is at war and smoke is raging everywhere. The assault corps, a top elite force directly under the Military Commission, seems to be able to be deployed to any battlefield.

However, at this moment, all the participating cadres in the conference room understood that the secretive behavior of their captain in recent times was about to be exposed, and all their previous doubts would soon be answered in this high-level meeting.

"The captain is here!"

Suddenly, a loud command was heard, the door of the conference room was pushed open, and all the officers in the conference room stood up and stood solemnly. He Wei, wearing a colonel's woolen uniform, walked steadily into the conference room. His serious expression was visibly filled with excitement.

Under the gaze of all the officers standing upright, He Wei walked to the head of the long table in the conference room. His sharp eyes swept across the room. After half a minute of scanning the Assault Corps, the chief officers of the First Supplementary Soldier Training Department and the General Affairs Department, and all the responsible cadres were present, He Wei showed a look of satisfaction. He then took out a piece of order from his chest pocket, and said with a hint of excitement in his calm tone: "According to the order of the Military Commission, in order to strengthen our army's defense in Guangxi, prevent the Japanese army from attacking Guangxi, and support the national army troops in Guangxi, the Army Assault Corps is now ordered to set off as soon as possible. It must set off before the 20th and head to Quanzhou, Guangxi, to meet up with the Fifth Army stationed in Quanzhou, and jointly form an advance detachment, and wait for orders to advance into the hinterland of Guangxi."

"The food, ammunition, oil, and medicine needed by the Corps must be reported to the Military and Political Department as soon as possible. The Third Independent Motor Vehicle Battalion directly under the Military and Political Department assigned to the Assault Corps will still be assigned to the Assault Corps. In addition, the Military and Political Department is preparing to dispatch 300 vehicles from various places as backup, and cooperate with the vehicles already in the Assault Corps to transport the Assault Corps to Jeonju as soon as possible by combining rail and road transportation!"

After He Wei finished reading out the marching order that he had just received and issued by the Military Affairs Department, the conference room suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

When the officers heard that they were about to set off for Quanzhou, Guangxi, they all looked surprised.

The officers actually had many speculations about which battlefield the Assault Corps would be sent to. Based on the current situation, most officers believed that the Japanese army was launching a large-scale invasion of northern Hunan and was about to capture Changsha. Therefore, most officers believed that the Assault Corps would be transferred to the Ninth War Zone in Hunan to participate in the upcoming Battle of Northern Hunan, also known as the Battle of Changsha. However, they never imagined that the Assault Corps would actually be pulled to Guangxi?

Even the senior advisers and department heads of the Military Affairs Department who could receive the latest information about the national war situation at any time did not realize the lack of troops in Guangxi and the possibility that the Japanese army would invade Guangxi, let alone the lieutenants and school officers under the assault corps? Therefore, among the officers' speculations about which battlefield the assault corps might be sent to, Guangxi was not even an option.

Looking at the officers' surprised expressions and their thoughtful expressions, He Wei showed a playful smile, then waved his hand and said, "Come on, everyone sit down."

After everyone was seated, He Wei smiled again and said calmly, "I'll get straight to the point. Our corps is going to the battlefield again, to fight a big war. Of course, I think you all should have known this. You have all seen the recent combat readiness of the Assault Corps, the intensified training of the First Supplementary Soldier Training Department, and the various things of the General Affairs Office. The orders I issued to the Assault Corps, the First Supplementary Soldier Training Department, and the General Affairs Office are naturally all for preparations for war."

"I know that you all already know that my assault corps is going to fight, but you must be more confused as to why we are going to Guangxi instead of going to other battlefields to fight the Japanese army. I won't go into details. I just want to say that the higher-ups have already determined that the Japanese army will definitely enter Guangxi in the next two or three months, and I personally think so. Therefore, when we go to Guangxi, we will have a battle, a big battle to fight."

As soon as He Wei finished speaking, a company commander of the assault corps suddenly made a report, and then, before He Wei could respond, he said excitedly: "It doesn't matter where we go, as long as there is a battle and we follow the captain, it's fine. Our assault corps has never been afraid of fighting the devils. During the Battle of Wuhan, we beat the damn devils into pieces. Now we have been training for almost a year, and we are strong and powerful. It is a good opportunity to show our skills. If we run into the devils again in Guangxi this time, we must beat the damn devils into the great-grandson of the devils!"

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the conference room became lively, and the company commander's "rude and vulgar words" soon caused everyone to laugh.

(End of this chapter)