However, the commander's heavy mortar platoon was not something he carried with him. When the artillery platoon received the order and then set off to the train station, more than half a day passed. So until the early morning of February 5, a column full of soldiers and
The weapons and equipment train only departed from Taiyuan Railway Station. Due to the large amount of equipment and logistics supplies, only one passenger car was allocated to Zhou Wen as the command headquarters, and the others were all truck cars.
However, Zhou Wen had inspected it before. Although the stuffy tank car had simple facilities and was actually covered with a thick layer of hay, the environment was still clean. The soldiers spread out their marching blankets, opened several vents, and lay down
The carriage was not crowded or stuffy at all.
This time the mercenary group went out in full force, including the logistics team. Old Uncle Wu also came because he was unwilling to stay behind. Naturally, the logistics team was left to him.
Feng Tianpei and an American doctor named Monte who volunteered to participate, as well as ten nurses headed by Cui Xiaolu, formed a field medical team. Half a carriage was filled with medicines and equipment, some of which were for personal use, and many purple clear and red medicines were donated to the 19th century.
Even the battlefield ambulance that had never been on the battlefield was put on the train to experience the baptism of the first war.
Originally, Old Henry also wanted to join in with great interest, but considering his age and the fact that Beautiful Hospital had to open as usual, Zhou Wen declined his kindness, leaving Old Henry unhappy and repeatedly saying that Zhou Wen was not a friend enough.
The military train first arrived at Shijiazhuang via the Zhengtai Railway, then changed to the Pinghan-Han Railway to Zhengzhou, then took the Longhai Railway to Xuzhou, and then took the Jinpu Railway directly to Nanjing.
Along the way, there were dual instructions and advance arrangements from the Party Headquarters of the Central Committee and the Military Commission. Changing trains did not change carriages. We only stopped at a few designated major stations along the way to let the soldiers get off to eat and rest. It took two full days and two nights.
I arrived in Nanjing in the early morning of February 8th.
At the Xiaguan Railway Station in Nanjing, several elders from the Central Party Headquarters personally inspected the military appearance of the mercenary regiment and held a simple awarding ceremony.
Because the more than 1,000 people in the second detachment were temporarily formed units, Zhou Wen did not have time to submit the list and application for military ranks. Before this expedition, he submitted the list to the provincial party headquarters and the Military Commission, because during combat, military ranks were not marked
It is very important, especially since there are many friendly neighboring troops, which can largely avoid confusion and losses when commanding and coordinating operations.
The Central Party Headquarters is as generous as ever in this regard. It doesn't cost money anyway. After reporting it to the Military Commission, the Military Commission will naturally not be a bad person. They are going to the battlefield to fight the Japanese. How can you still be reluctant to part with it?
A military rank of captain?
Therefore, Zhou Wen's military rank was raised one level from colonel to colonel due to his repeated meritorious service in Shanxi over the past year, and became the actual rank of colonel. The original officer ranks of the other first detachment remained unchanged. Meng Yuting and Chen Wanli of the second detachment
All have the rank of captain, other officers, company commanders are all lieutenants, platoon leaders are all second lieutenants, squad leaders are all sergeants, deputy squad leaders are corporal, and soldiers are all privates.
Even Feng Tianpei got the rank of second lieutenant, and several nurses became sergeants.
After the title was awarded, several big bosses naturally encouraged and made speeches again, which was what they should have meant. Finally, they announced on the spot that the provincial party headquarters would grant a one-time combat fund of 200,000 yuan, and handed over a 200,000 yuan ticket on the spot.
Dayang's HSBC cashier's check was handed over to Zhou Wen. This move won warm applause from the soldiers and indeed played a role in boosting morale.
What really surprised Zhou Wen was that he actually met Commander Qian, whom he had not seen for more than a year. As a representative of the Military Commission, he came to inspect the newly established Shanxi Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army of the Central Party Headquarters and sent a message from the Military Commission and
The radio communication frequency band and password of the 19th Route Army Headquarters.
This time the Military Commission also specially sent a telecommunications team and a radio station to follow Zhou Wen to Shanghai to be responsible for contacting the Military Commission. Until a higher-level Central Army commander arrives, the telecommunications team will be assigned to the new commander.
's leadership.
After several senior officials from the provincial party headquarters left, Chief Qian hugged Zhou Wen warmly, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Good brother, I haven't seen you for more than a year, but you have grown taller again. It's amazing. In a short period of time, you have grown taller again."
He brought out so many elite soldiers and generals."
Zhou Wen also happily recounted the farewell to Chief Qian. Only then did he realize that since Chief Qian retired bravely and returned to the principal's attendant's office as the chief military officer, the principal's scruples had indeed been eliminated, and he gradually began to let him
Participate in some major decisions.
Chief Qian finally sighed: "If the war hadn't broken out in Shanghai this time, I would have been assigned to lead a delegation to Germany to inspect the German Air Force. Brother, you saw it clearly at the time. The principal asked me to pay more attention to the Air Force recently.
Development, I guess they will transfer me to the Air Force to serve."
Zhou Wen said: "A war between China and Japan is inevitable in the future. The development of the Chinese Air Force has a long way to go. It is the time for the eldest brother to show his talents. If you seize this opportunity, the eldest brother's status will be stable in the future. The air force is different from the army. The necessary professional knowledge and battlefield
Commanding requires time to accumulate and accumulate, and it cannot be replaced just by changing it."
"Oh? Brother, you mean that China and Japan will not go to full-scale war this time?"
It is no wonder that Chief Qian asked this question. You must know that at this period, the Nationalist Government did not know that the Japanese army's purpose of provoking the war in Shanghai was actually to divert the international community's attention from the Northeast and satisfy the long-term control of Northeast China.
The purpose is arrogant and ambitious, and it is not ready for an all-out war with China.
Zhou Wen said with a smile: "There will definitely be a war between China and Japan, but it won't be now. As far as I know, Japan is also suffering from the Great Depression of the world economy. Their current domestic financial situation is no better than China's.
Where to go? Today's Japan cannot afford the military expenditures of a full-scale war. By then, we will only need to fight against them for a period of time, and their country will go bankrupt."
Chief Qian was silent for a while thoughtfully, and sighed: "I have hundreds of generals on the Military Commission of the National Government, but none of them have your knowledge. Brother, you don't know that until now, the principal has
It was believed that Japan wanted to control the Yangtze River Basin of our country, and the purpose of the war was to occupy Nanjing. Therefore, all military deployments were made around defending Nanjing, and they were even prepared to move the capital to Luoyang."
Zhou Wen quickly said humbly: "Brother, you are exaggerating. The principal and the others are responsible for the fate of the country and the nation. When looking at problems, they naturally have to plan for the worst outcome. Besides, little Japan has always been bold and arrogant. If we don't suppress the arrogance of the Japanese army in Shanghai,
There is no guarantee that they will not take advantage of it and peek further into our hinterland of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which is also the purpose of my invitation to fight this time."