After that, the coordination between the troops was still not bad for a week, but friction always existed. The differences in language, region, and living habits, as well as the Chinese people's poor communication skills, naturally deepened the conflict.

  On the morning of March 9, during training, a platoon leader from the second battalion cursed at a new recruit from Guangxi, calling him a stupid Guangxi monkey. This triggered a small-scale brawl. More than thirty people from both sides fought each other, and the training ground was filled with flying dust.

  Wang Zhenyu didn't say much, and directly ordered Ma Xicheng and Zhao Dongsheng to lead the guards and instructors of the Travel Department, with more than 40 people holding military clubs, to rush into the crowd that was fighting and start beating them wildly. Zhao Dongsheng and others were extremely ruthless and swift in their movements, and many participants in the brawl were beaten until they fell to the ground with broken heads and bleeding. The onlookers were all terrified.

  Wang Zhenyu, with a stern face, asked about the whole incident and, without saying another word, the squad leader who had cursed was given twenty military lashes and then expelled from the army. All others who participated in the fight, regardless of whether they were lightly or heavily involved, were also given twenty military lashes as punishment.

  As a result, everyone became honest. The ninth brigade, composed of people from Hunan, Hubei and Guangxi, temporarily achieved harmony under the high pressure of Wang Zhenyu.

  Wang Zhenyu was not satisfied with this and after discussing with Xu Yuanquan, Wan Yao Huang and Yang Wanguo, he made a second revision to the Guangxi Student Army.

  First is the grand martial arts competition, with test subjects being cultural and military foundation (running, jumping, throwing, plus striking).

  After two days of trials, Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Yu Zuobo, Liao Yue, Li Pinxian and 48 other excellent soldiers were added to the instructional team. The number of people in the instructional team also reached 96. Wang Zhenyu had decided to upgrade the instructional team to a battalion-level unit, with the commander as lieutenant colonel, Zhao Dongsheng concurrently serving, with sub-teams set up below, and the sub-team leaders as senior captains, squad leaders, deputy squad leaders as lieutenants, and recruits uniformly as junior lieutenants.

  Seventy individual soldiers of excellent quality were divided among the newly established staff room, logistics department, reconnaissance company and special operations company of the brigade. The guards team was drawn from old soldiers from each battalion to fill a quota of fifty people.

  The remaining 162 who were left out were all supplemented to the eight-one classes of the three infantry regiments, with two in each class. After supplementing 280 Guangxi students, the total number of officers and soldiers in the brigade reached 1,198 people. Wang Zhenyu's plan was also clear, just waiting for the decision of the governor's office to disperse. From the 300,000 troops in Nanjing, he would carefully select and expand to between 4,000 and 6,000 people, at least upgrading the three regiments to three divisions. Oh, and a 500-man engineer corps had to be formed. Why did he get so close to Wang Zixiang in the third section? Wasn't it because this old man had an engineer battalion under his command?

  Personnel matters have progressed smoothly, and next is military training. Although Yang Wanguo is the chief of staff, he is not very familiar with modern military affairs either. The current training plan for the Hu Ben Brigade was discussed by Wan Yaohuang and Xu Yuanquan, and the new military regulations booklet and training manual have been distributed to each department. Wan Yaohuang also specially designed a training effectiveness evaluation form, which will be used to check the daily training effectiveness of each unit.

  Wang Zhenyu was very satisfied with this and appointed Wan Yaohuang as the Director of the Training Department of the Traveling Brigade and concurrently as the Head of the Military Law Department, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. At the same time, he appointed Tang Hai Rong as the Captain of the Reconnaissance Company, Zhang Xu Guang as the Captain of the Special Operations Company; The daily training of the Special Operations Company and the Reconnaissance Company was also entrusted to Wan Yaohuang.

  The 9th Infantry Brigade has been stationed at the Army Middle School since it was assigned to the Nanjing Garrison Command. The environment is elegant, the accommodation conditions are superior, and what makes Wang Zhenyu even more satisfied is that there is a very professional training ground here, such good conditions can't be wasted.

  On the training ground, dust was flying everywhere, and people's shadows were overlapping. The squad leader was yelling there: "Faster, faster, you trash, do you want to be an officer with this kind of speed? Faster, give me more speed, use your strength for Laozi!"

  On the stone steps beside the training ground, five or six exhausted new recruits who had just been assigned to Squad Leader Cao were sitting there resting.

  They had just finished their intense physical training, although the wind was blowing gently and coolly at this time. However, it couldn't stop their clothes from being soaked by the Han River water, each of them holding a military canteen filled with cold boiled water, which was the best way to quench their thirst.

  One of the square-faced recruits with thin eyebrows took a sip of water and glanced at the bustling training ground before saying, "What do you guys think of our new battalion commander?"

  "What else can you do, De Shuai? Be content with what you have. You have food and drink, no debt, and a new cotton-padded jacket from head to toe. Think about the days when we were in the 16th Brigade, can it be compared to now? The only thing is that this training is too tough, much more intense than when we were at the Army Academy, exhausting people to death." A goose-egg-faced, narrow-eyed recruit replied very casually.

  Another slightly thin soldier seemed to disagree: "Brother Jian Sheng, I don't like to hear you say that. We came out of Guangxi for the revolution, not just for food and silver."

  The somewhat lazy goose-egg-faced recruit chuckled: "So you, Yu Zuo Bai, still want to go beg? Go ahead, no one's stopping you. Look at you, it seems like the hardships of the past few months haven't been enough for you!"

  At the sight of them about to quarrel, the aspect learning soldier hastily said: "You all don't argue first, I want to say it's not this meaning. I just think, we came out from Guangxi for revolution, what are we after?"

  That so-called healthy egg-faced soldier, Bai Mou, suddenly had a sharp and decisive glint in his eyes when he heard this question: "What's the point? De Neighbour Brother, fellow brothers, I'm just a poor devil, coming out to make something of myself, not just to pass through life. But since leaving Guangxi, apart from Commander Wang's current unit, which revolutionary army has any intention of doing anything worthwhile?"

  Yu Zuobo, a small stature, was still a bit out of breath just now. Hearing this, he nodded and said: "Brother Jian Sheng's words I agree with, to be honest, the whole Nanjing is only our brigade that has some revolutionary spirit, others are all clamoring for food, but we are still doing things as usual."

  Another sturdy young soldier also shouted: "I, Liao Yue, followed Captain Zhao out, and in the 9th Brigade, I was finally able to eat my fill. To say it out loud is embarrassing, we never suffered such hardships when we were at the Army Elementary School."

  Next to the self-proclaimed Liao Yue stood a pair of arm-crossed, clear-browed and bright-eyed fellow students: "Yeah, our classmate Liao Yue is really suffering. Nowadays, his eyes only recognize food, nothing else. He's almost become a rice bucket."

  Liao Hu's eyes widened: "You, Li Pinxian, dare to laugh at me? That time we had dinner together, I didn't see you eating less than two mouthfuls. If I'm a foodie, then you're an extra-large foodie."

  After finishing speaking, the two of them laughed happily again, it seems their private relationship is very good.

  The man known as "De Neighbour" is Li Zongren, and the one called "Jiansheng" is Bai Chongxi, a famous Xiaoguang during the Republic of China period.

  These five people were not familiar with each other, but after the 16th Brigade adjusted its defense, 300 Guangxi student soldiers were sold to the 9th Brigade by Zhao Hengdu, the brigade commander. Later, during the second reorganization, a group of Guangxi student soldiers were transferred to the training team, which was said to be training officers, and continued to serve as student soldiers. It was just such a coincidence that the five people happened to be assigned to the same class and naturally got to know each other.

  Li Zongren was older and a bit dull, so everyone called him "De Lin Big Brother" because of his good character. Bai Chongxi was younger but very clever and talked in a way that could easily make people angry to death, but he didn't have bad intentions, so nobody held it against him.

  At this moment, Li Zongren's heart was like an overturned bottle of mixed flavors, with all sorts of feelings. Although his days were better than the past few months, and he seemed like a normal person, Li Zongren found it hard to shake off the feeling of being sold out by others.

  They were originally in the 16th Regiment, and they had already become junior officers, but suddenly it was unclear what agreement Zhao Regiment Commander had reached with Wang Regiment Commander. They became part of the 9th Regiment, and were reorganized twice, eventually being dispersed.

  To know that Li Zongren was ambitious, the original motivation for coming out to be a soldier was very pure, to do something, not seeking to make a fortune, but to leave a good name in history. For a child from an ordinary family, it can be said that this is quite a rare thing, but such a rare and absurd idea actually dominated Li Zongren's whole life.

  Half a year ago, when he left Guangxi, his revolutionary enthusiasm had already been doused by the cold water of reality. Now facing an unfamiliar team and unfamiliar superiors, this strong sense of alienation even made 20-year-old Li Zongren think of quitting and returning to his hometown in Guangxi.

  "Are you Li Zongren?" A gentle voice broke into Li Zongren's reverie.

  Before Li Zongren could turn around, Bai Chongxi, who was originally leaning lazily against the stone steps, suddenly jumped up and gave a standard military salute to the person behind Li Zongren: "At attention, Cadet Bai Chongxi of the First Squad of the Ninth Brigade's Directly Subordinate Training Unit reporting to Brigade Commander Wang."

  It's no wonder that eyesight is important, Li Pinxian and Liao Kuai are still there teasing each other, Yu Zuobai is still waiting for Li Zongren to speak; only Bai Chongxi recognized the young man who walked down the stone steps and greeted De Neighbour in the first time, it was none other than their new superior, the commander of the 9th Brigade, Wang Zhenyu. No mistake, although he was also wearing a blue-grey military uniform, wasn't the badge on his collar the golden star emblem that identified him as a Lieutenant General of the Army?

  "Oh, you're Bai Chongxi." The newcomer was Wang Zhenyu, who had just sent off Ye Zuwen after handling the Shanghai affair. Rarely having a free moment, he ran to the training team that cultivated grassroots officers for himself. He smiled and nodded, returning the salute to Yu Zupei, Liao Kuai and other students who were vying with each other to salute him, and then gestured for them to sit down.