The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 497 Two Gifts to Show Sincerity

He Wei took a sip of tea and whispered, "Commander Du, regarding the details of our assault corps and your Fifth Army jointly forming an advance detachment, I think the Military Commission has already informed your department, right?"

Du Yuming's face turned serious when he heard this. "The Military Commission has already mentioned to me the details of the joint advance team formed by our two ministries to enter Guangxi. The unification of military and political orders in the war of resistance and nation-building is the basic policy of our central government and the chairman. There is no doubt about this. However, now is the time for the whole country to unite as one and face the outside world. I am afraid that there are some things that we should not do too much."

Obviously, although Du Yuming attached great importance to forming an advance detachment and entering Guangxi, he did not want to go too far in dealing with the Guangxi clique. One of the reasons was naturally what he had just said to He Wei. Now was the critical moment for the military and civilians across the country to unite to fight the foreign war. At this juncture, the advance detachment's actions must not be focused on dealing with its own people. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a tragedy for the enemies as well as the grief of the relatives? As the commander of the National Army's number one mechanized army and a student of the first class of Whampoa Military Academy, he certainly hoped that the mighty troops under his command could be used on the battlefield to fight against foreign enemies, rather than used in internal strife and internal consumption.

Moreover, even in the secret order given by the Military Commission to the Fifth Army in advance, it was required that the advance detachment should focus on defending against the Japanese army after entering Guangxi.

Apart from this, Du Yuming himself did not want to conflict with the Guangxi clique. In fact, when the Military Commission decided to expand the Fifth Army with the original 200th Mechanized Division as the backbone, Du Yuming was not the only candidate for the commander of the Fifth Army. There were countless people who were jealous of this mechanized army that was composed of a large number of sophisticated equipment and elite personnel. Even Yu Jishi, a close confidant of Principal Chang who had brought out the elite th Army of the National Army, had his eyes on the position of commander of the Fifth Army. This shows how popular the position of commander of the Fifth Army was at that time.

The reason why Du Yuming was able to win in the end and get the position of commander of the Fifth Army was, on the one hand, that he had rich experience working in mechanized troops, and on the other hand, that he was favored by Bai Chongxi.

Long before the Fifth Army was established, Bai Chongxi had visited its predecessor, the 200th Division, and believed that Du Yuming's training and leading of troops was quite methodical. Therefore, when the candidate for the commander of the Fifth Army was finally decided, Bai Chongxi still voted for Du Yuming. Although Little Zhuge was the leader of the Guangxi clique and should not have had any control over the personnel of the central army, he was, after all, a big shot who could compete with the Chairman of the Standing Committee, and his words always carried some weight.

Therefore, Du Yuming was able to finally take the position of commander of the Fifth Army, and the favor of Little Zhuge also played a role.

So, from this point of view, Du Yuming was still very grateful to Little Zhuge, and naturally did not want to make a bad impression in this operation of entering Guangxi to defend against the Japanese army and deal with the Guangxi clique at the same time.

After hearing what Du Yuming meant, He Wei felt relieved. Although he accepted the order from his superiors, he was not very interested in stabbing the Guangxi clique in the back. From the time he came up with the idea of ​​leading the troops into Guangxi to the time he took the risk of submitting a strategic proposal, the ultimate goal of everything he did was just to fight against the Japanese invaders.

Now seeing that Du Yuming had no interest in this, He Wei felt relieved. Both sides had the same attitude and did not want to waste too much energy on dealing with their own people. This was very good. He could also make some things clearer.

He Wei nodded in agreement: "Commander Du's words make sense, and I agree with them. After all, we are facing a powerful enemy, and we should unite to face the enemy. Therefore, we still need to be more cautious in some things. On this point, you and I agree. By the way, Commander Du, please take a look at this warrant."

After He Wei finished speaking, he took out an envelope from his pocket.

Du Yuming took the envelope and opened it, his expression quickly became solemn.

The envelope that He Wei handed to him contained the Chairman's order given to him by the attendant's office before He Wei set off. The general content of this order was to grant He Wei a dominant position in a series of actions against the Guangxi clique after the advance detachment entered Guangxi, or in other words, a series of actions to increase the central government's influence in Guangxi, and the wording was very clear.

After reading it, Du Yuming frowned slightly. He really didn't understand what He Wei meant by taking out the Chairman's handwritten order at this time? Was he trying to show off his power with the Chairman's handwritten order?
When Du Yuming was hesitating, He Wei continued, "Commander Du, I have no other intention in taking out this order. I just want to take it out earlier to show my sincerity in this joint operation. As I said just now, there are some things we cannot do too much after entering Guangxi. As for me, I still want to devote more energy to dealing with the Japanese invaders. I would like to make my attitude clear to you here. After entering Guangxi, my advance detachment will defend against the Japanese army wholeheartedly and fight to the death with the Japanese army with all our strength.

"Therefore, I will never use this handwritten order from the Chairman as a capital to issue orders to your unit, nor will I make a fuss about it. I have made it very clear just now that the first priority for me and my Assault Corps is always to fight the Japanese invaders. Before our unit set out, we also received a sum of funds from the Ministry of Military Affairs. I have allocated 60,000 French francs from it to your unit as a gift to my brothers in the Fifth Army. I hope that our cooperation will go smoothly this time and that we can defeat the Japanese invaders in Guangxi!"

He Wei's sonorous and powerful voice instantly put Du Yuming's heart at ease.

A handwritten order from the chairman and 60,000 French francs in cash were the two great gifts that He Wei sent out.

In the warrant, the Standing Committee Chairman granted He Wei considerable power. It was no exaggeration to say that this warrant was an imperial sword. Therefore, when He Wei handed it to Du Yuming, Du Yuming subconsciously thought that He Wei had some ill intentions. But He Wei not only took out the warrant, but also made it clear that he would never use this warrant as a bargaining chip with the Fifth Army in joint operations or as a means of using the "warrant" to gain respect. The 60,000 French francs he gave to He Wei showed his great sincerity.

For a well-funded unit like the Fifth Army, 60,000 yuan was not a large sum, but it was definitely not a small sum, and Du Yuming had not received any notice from his superiors that funds had been allocated specifically for the operation into Guangxi.

Therefore, in his opinion, He Wei could have kept the funds for himself, but he did not. Instead, he handed the money over to the Fifth Army in full, which shows his sincerity in cooperating with the Fifth Army.

Of course, if Du Yuming knew that He Wei actually received a huge sum of 600,000 yuan in funding, whether he would still have such thoughts is still unknown.

Du Yuming could also tell what was behind He Wei's two important gifts and sincere performance. He Wei was clearly unwilling to carry out the task assigned by his superiors to deal with the Guangxi clique, or was passive in carrying out the task, or even pretending to obey but secretly disobeying it, and instead devoted himself to dealing with the Japanese army, which was also Du Yuming's original intention. He Wei's attitude was consistent with Du Yuming's, and the attitude he showed was extremely sincere.

For a moment, Du Yuming was actually quite moved. After all, there were numerous factions in the national army, constant struggles, and intrigues were common. Du Yuming, a veteran who had been in the national army for more than ten years and had experienced many vicissitudes of life, was no longer surprised.

Therefore, against the backdrop of all kinds of secretive and shady struggles that often occurred in the national army, He Wei's honesty and frankness naturally appeared extremely valuable. In addition, He Wei had previously tried his best to help Du Yuming's armored forces in the Battle of Nanjing. Now Du Yuming likes He Wei, his junior from the 11th class of Whampoa Military Academy, more and more!

"What you want is what I wish for!"

Du Yuming nodded and extended his hand to He Wei with a smile.

He Wei also laughed and held Du Yuming's hand tightly.

The commander of the most well-equipped, largest and unique mechanized army in the National Army and the chief commander of the new assault corps that has the best combat record, made many outstanding achievements and expanded rapidly in the past two years, reached a happy cooperation.

Immediately, the two began to discuss the formation of an advance detachment. The Fifth Army was strong in men and had a large organization, so naturally the discussion on the establishment of an advance detachment had to start with the Fifth Army. In the previous coordination between the Military Commission and the Fifth Army, it had been determined that the 200th Division of the Fifth Army and a tank battalion of the Fifth Army's direct tank regiment would be incorporated into the advance detachment.

The name of the 200th Division is quite famous, however, this 200th Division is not the 200th Division when Du Yuming was the division commander. He Wei learned from Du Yuming that the 200th Division when he was the division commander was indeed a mechanized division, with a huge force of more than 200 people including a tank regiment, a tank defense artillery regiment and an infantry regiment. After the mechanized 200th Division with Du Yuming as the division commander was expanded into the Fifth Army, the number of the th Division was not cancelled, but became the number of one of the three infantry divisions under the Fifth Army.

Therefore, the 200th Division under the Fifth Army is actually not the previous mechanized division, but an ordinary field infantry division. Among the three infantry divisions of the Fifth Army, the comprehensive combat effectiveness of the 200th Division is not even ranked first. The Fifth Army currently has three infantry divisions, including the 200th Division, the Honor 1st Division and the newly formed 22nd Division.

Among them, the Honor 1st Division is an infantry division composed of a large number of officers and soldiers who have returned from recovery. The soldiers and sergeants in its structure are all veterans who were wounded in the early stage of the War of Resistance Against Japan. They have rich combat experience. Most of the officers also have rich combat experience. Its theoretical combat effectiveness is the strongest. The new 22nd Division is a rising star. The division is based on part of the officers and soldiers of the old 200th Division and recruited a large number of new recruits from Hunan. It is the latest of the three infantry divisions in the Fifth Army and has the worst foundation, but the cadres of the division are extremely excellent.

The division commander was Qiu Qingquan, a graduate of the second class of Whampoa Military Academy, and the chief of staff was Liao Yaoxiang, a graduate of the sixth class of Whampoa Military Academy. Both were first-rate military training experts. Moreover, in the grand review organized by the Military Commission, this division actually surpassed the more established 200th Division and the 1st Honor Division, and became the first in the Fifth Army Review. A newly formed, younger infantry division actually surpassed its two big brothers, the 200th Division and the 1st Honor Division, and became the first. This shows how capable the division's leadership cadres are.

The 1st Honorable Division has many veterans and its officers and soldiers are experienced in combat. Although the new 22nd Division is a newly formed unit, its officers are of excellent quality and have achieved excellent rankings. In comparison, the 200th Division seems a little worse. Therefore, Du Yuming did not want to incorporate the 200th Division into the advance detachment at first, but was more inclined to incorporate the 1st Honorable Division or the newly formed 22nd Division into the advance detachment.

However, neither of these two divisions was stationed in Jeonju, and it would take time to dispatch them. Therefore, the 200th Division stationed in Jeonju had to be incorporated into the advance detachment.

As for incorporating a battalion of the Fifth Army's tank regiment into the advance detachment, there is no need to say more. The Fifth Army's biggest advantage is its large number of tank equipment. This time the advance detachment is about to enter Guangxi to fight, so it is natural to strengthen the advance detachment with a batch of advanced tanks.

Du Yuming attached great importance to the organization of the advance detachment. After all, this was the first large-scale non-exercise military operation after the establishment of the Fifth Army, so he also wanted to incorporate the most combat-effective parts and the best military resources of the Fifth Army into this advance detachment. However, time waits for no one, and he could not transfer the Rong 1st Division or the new 22nd Division. He could only settle for the second best and incorporate the 200th Division, which currently has a slightly lower combat effectiveness level, into the advance detachment.

Du Yuming also expressed deep regret about this, but He Wei said it was okay. Du Yuming only felt regretful that he could not incorporate the infantry division, which he believed to be the most combat-effective in the Fifth Army, into the advance detachment. But with the assault corps there, why should he worry about the combat effectiveness of the infantry units of the advance detachment?

In addition, Du Yuming was also very worried about the artillery firepower of the advance detachment. The organization and equipment of the Fifth Army were indeed very powerful, but compared with the powerful troop organization and tank equipment and vehicle equipment, the artillery firepower of the Fifth Army was extremely weak. There was no army-level artillery at all, and the divisional artillery of its subordinate infantry divisions did not have mountain artillery, field artillery and other barreled artillery, but only mortars.

Although the Military Commission was preparing to draw a number of independent artillery units to strengthen the Fifth Army's artillery firepower, this was only a plan after all and had not been implemented at all.

Therefore, Du Yuming was also very worried about the artillery firepower of the advance detachment.

Of course, Du Yuming's worry was dispelled after He Wei told him in detail about the organization and equipment of the assault corps' artillery battalion, which was comparable to the strength and scale of an artillery regiment.

In this somewhat ostentatious and proud way, He Wei quickly resolved Du Yuming's various concerns about the insufficient combat effectiveness of the advance detachment's infantry and artillery.

(End of this chapter)