The scene was in an uproar, and Xu Yuanquan was the first to speak up, asking: "General, what's going on?"

  Wang Zhenyu did not answer directly, but looked at He Jian, who immediately explained: "Ladies and gentlemen, this morning, the Kuomintang leader Song Jiaoren was assassinated."

  Ah, the scene was once again in an uproar, but the expressions of the military officers were somewhat different. Xu Yuanquan, Wan Yao-huang and others had a look of surprise on their faces, while Yang Wan-gui and others had a wooden expression, apparently they still didn't understand what kind of relationship they had with the death of this Kuomintang leader.

  Wang Zhenyu saw this and shook his head, thinking that the strategic training of his own team also needed to be strengthened, otherwise an army lacking in strategic vision would have no future.

  Yang Wanguo scratched his head and said: "General, this, this what's-his-name Song, he's dead, what does it have to do with us?"

  Wang Zhenyu flared up upon hearing this question: "Old Yang, tell me yourself, how many times have I told you to read more books and newspapers? Which few books have you read recently? And how many issues of the Changsha Daily that I had the attendants' office send over have you actually looked at? Now that your wife is here, are all your thoughts focused on the bedroom or what? If you think the work in the strategy department is too idle, I'll transfer you down to lead troops instead, how about going to the security guard corps?"

  Yang Wangui immediately knew he had touched the commander's sore spot upon hearing this and shrunk his neck, not daring to make another sound.

  Xu Yuanquan is indeed a graduate of a regular military academy, and he's different from that rustic Yang Wanguo. He understands the significance of this news. Seeing the atmosphere at the scene become eerie due to Wang Zhenyu's behavior, he immediately changed the subject: "General, now that Song Jiaoren is dead, the Nationalists will definitely seek revenge. This might lead to war between the north and south. If it really comes to blows, it'll involve our own stance."

  Wan Yao Huang also nodded and said, "Will there be a war? In my opinion, it's unnecessary to discuss this. There will definitely be a war. The peace talks between the north and south were just a temporary measure. Both sides have ulterior motives, so it's not surprising if they start fighting again. What we should be discussing now is who will win and which side we should take. In short, we need to protect our current interests."

  Wang Zhenyu did not speak, but slightly nodded his head in agreement with Wan Yao's point of view.

  Then it became lively, and the officers began to discuss heatedly which side was right.

  Li Zongren made a clear statement: "No need to say, we should oppose Yuan Shikai. We are from the Revolutionary Army. I dare to say that Mr. Song Jiaoren was killed by Yuan Shikai. If we don't overthrow him, who will we overthrow?"

  Bai Chongxi shook his head and said, "De Neighbour elder brother, what you say is not wrong, but things may not be done this way. Yuan Shikai's power must be stronger than the Nationalist Party. Moreover, look at it, after the revolution, the people's hearts have scattered, each doing their own thing. Don't mention other places, just our Hunan province's situation is enough to make one worried. I think we should wait and see before making a move, our position is right between Yunnan Army, Guangxi Army, Hunan Army and Sichuan Army, it's not suitable to take sides too early."

  Everyone has their own say, and we argue with each other until our faces are red and our ears are hot.

  Zhao Dongsheng, Tao Sunyue and other officers personally promoted by Wang Zhenyu sat on one side without speaking. Their thoughts were simple and straightforward: whatever the general said was what they would do. This very direct attitude made Wang Zhenyu extremely satisfied.

  After arguing for almost half an hour, Zhou Tong, who had been silent all along, suddenly knocked on the table and said: "I'm telling you, don't discuss which side to stand on yet. In my opinion, this battle can't be fought in a short while."

  Wang Zhenyu's eyes lit up as soon as he heard this, and his body leaned forward: "Zhou Lan, tell me your reason."

  Zhou Ran stood up and said, "This reason is actually very simple, but no one here has noticed it before. I think the person who might understand it best is probably Director Ma."

  When he mentioned himself, Ma Xi Cheng was stunned for a moment, but still sat there without interrupting.

  "Two words: no money."

  "First of all, Yuan Shikai's Beijing government is out of money. I had dinner with Mr. Franke from the Huabei Bank and he told me some things about the post-war loan. In fact, up to now, the Beijing government has not been able to borrow money from the five-nation consortium, which means that our President Yuan cannot get a single penny from customs duties and salt taxes. So it's easy to calculate the next account. Didn't Director Ma say last time that our field army and local security forces have more than 30,000 people, with monthly expenses of almost 900,000 yuan? Our President Yuan has at least five times as many troops as this, plus a huge central government to support... haha, it's hard to manage without several tens of millions of dollars per month. This is still in peacetime; if there's war, the military will move and the money needed will double. So without money, President Yuan can't fight even if he wants to. As for the south, it's even more hopeless - Sun Yat-sen and his people are also out of money. I reckon they can shout loudly about revenge, but if they really want to fight, how many provinces will be willing to pay their own way to send troops? These are just my personal views; everyone is welcome to express different opinions, no swearing allowed."

  The last sentence made all the officers in the audience, including Wang Zhenyu, laugh, and the atmosphere relaxed a lot.

  Yang Wanguo took a sneak peek at Wang Zhenyu, then cautiously said: "So to say, this battle can't be fought at all, both sides can only spit at each other?"

  "No," Wang Zhenyu suddenly spoke up, and the whole room immediately fell silent. "Zhou Dan's analysis should be understood like this: as long as our President Yuan borrows money from foreigners, the powers will immediately recognize his legitimate government, and before long, nearly 100 million yuan in salt taxes and customs duties will flow into his pockets. Once he has the money, our President Yuan will unify the country by force."

  Everyone suddenly understood, but seeing Wang Zhenyu suddenly standing up, their eyes focused on the general again.

  Wang Zhenyu walked around the chair, his hand on the back of the chair, and asked: "Ma Chuchang, the military factory of the Military Equipment Department has been in operation for two months. What is the current monthly output?"

  Ma Xi furrowed his brow and said, "It's just average. I've found all the raw materials in Yuanzhou, but the technical personnel are not skilled enough, and the equipment is incomplete. For now, we can only imitate the Hanyang rifle and bullets. We can't produce mortars and hand grenades yet. However, we can guarantee at least 2,000 rifles and 18 million rounds of ammunition per month for the time being, just to ensure the basic configuration of the newly formed troops."

  Wang Zhenyu walked back and forth for two steps, then stretched out his hand to gesture Ma Xicheng to sit down. This number is already quite good, but from the perspective of rifles and bullets, it has already exceeded the Hanyang Arsenal.

  "Tomorrow, find Phillips again and increase the equipment by another batch. The number of rifles and bullets should be doubled, striving for 4,000 pieces per month, with 3.6 million rifle bullets; at the same time, hire people from Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, and Hanyang Arsenal with high salaries, don't be afraid to spend money, it will all be earned back later. Also, I heard that the production of mortars is hindered by the lack of seamless steel pipes, go find Hans and let Lihua and Yang's trading company procure for us; from now on, I want to see at least 150 pieces of 60-caliber mortars delivered to the army every month, and the monthly output of 105mm mountain guns should reach 30 pieces, with no less than 30,000 shells; finally, there are machine guns and hand grenades, with no less than 30 pieces of Maxim guns per month, no less than 300,000 bullets, and 30,000 hand grenades. This construction must be completed before May, spend the money first, I will make arrangements with the Finance Bureau of the Garrison Command."

  When Wang Zhenyu said this, all the officers present were moved and joked that if the military factory really reached this scale, the equipment level of their troops would immediately rise by several levels, and the combat effectiveness was unimaginable.

  When everyone was about to settle down, Wang Zhenyu suddenly announced loudly: "I order that the original organizational plan be cancelled. The original Xiangxi Defense Team will change from four regiments and four brigades to two divisions and three brigades, with two of the brigades being mountain brigades. Each division will have three reinforced infantry regiments, each regiment having five battalions and twenty-five companies, adopting the "five-five" large regiment system, with 3,000 people, equipped with thirty mortars, thirty machine guns; one artillery regiment with 800 people, equipped with fifty mountain cannons; one engineer regiment with 2,000 people; and a division headquarters directly under the command of a battalion with 1,200 people. Each division will have 16,000 soldiers.

  The mountain travel set up three infantry regiments, with 1,000 people in each of the three battalions; a 300-person artillery battalion; an 800-person engineer regiment; and a 900-person brigade directly under the brigade headquarters. Each brigade had 5,000 soldiers, and the field troops expanded to 42,000 after half a year.

  Then Wang Zhenyu stopped talking and sat back under everyone's eager gaze.

  Everyone now wants to know who will be the new leader. At this time, Secretary Wang Zhenbang, who was sitting on one side, stood up and opened a file folder to begin reading:

  "The specific personnel appointments are as follows:"

  Yang Wanguo was appointed as Major General and Director of the Staff Office of the Xiangxi Guard Brigade.

  Ma Xi became the Deputy Director of the Military Equipment Department of the Xiangxi Garrison Command.

  Wan Yao-huang was the Chief of the Military Law Division of the Defense Command of Western Hunan.

  Xu Yuanquan was appointed as the commander of the 1st Brigade of the Western Hunan Defense Army, and Wan Yaohuang concurrently served as the chief of staff of the 1st Brigade.

  Tao Yingyue was appointed Colonel and commander of the 101st Infantry Regiment, Zhang Xuanguang was appointed Colonel and commander of the 102nd Infantry Regiment, Tang Hairong was appointed Colonel and commander of the 103rd Infantry Regiment, Hu Li was appointed Colonel and commander of the Divisional Engineer Regiment.

  Liu Xing was appointed as the second-in-command of the Second Division of the Hunan Western Defense Army, and Zhou Dan concurrently served as the chief of staff of the Second Division.

  Li Hongkui was appointed as the Colonel and Commander of the 201st Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division, Zhou Zhengming was appointed as the Colonel and Commander of the 202nd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division, Liao Xue was appointed as the Colonel and Commander of the 203rd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division, Wang Benhuai was appointed as the Colonel and Commander of the Engineer Regiment of the 2nd Division.

  Commander of the Guard Division Zhao Dongsheng Major General, Chief of Staff Li Pixian Major General.

  Mountain First Division Commander Li Zongren Major General, Chief of Staff Dai Yue Major General

  Mountain Second Division Commander-in-Chief Bai Chongxi Lieutenant General, Chief of Staff Chen Yuxin Lieutenant General.

  The Xiangxi Constabulary Regiment was established, with Yu Zuobo as its commander.

  。。。。。。

  The above appointment takes effect immediately, and Wang, the garrison commander of Xiangxi, on March 22, Year 2 of the Republic of China.