Chapter 2 Bone Feeling

  "Ideals are plump, reality is bony."

  Zhang Yu stood on the main stage of the No. 1 large conference room of the People's Armed Forces Department and opened the prelude to the military reform meeting with a very simple sentence. This is the first time that the army has undergone military reforms since its founding on February 25, 1914, and it is a comprehensive system change.

  "There is no one who cannot think it through and there is no road that cannot be walked. As long as we have the determination and perseverance to do things well, then we will definitely succeed."

  The army is not a regular army, at least in Zhang Yu's heart, this team has not been considered a truly regularized force, an invincible and heroic group that cannot be defeated or disbanded. The reason is simple: since its birth, the army has never tasted defeat, from overthrowing Guangxi warlord Lu Rongting to expanding its influence through the War of Protection and the War of Law, the army's enemies have been one by one, until now, even the most powerful First Division can only fight against small bandits and kill heretics in Xinjiang.

  "The domestic situation is very clear and bright, regardless of party affiliation or political views. In each province, the warlords are vying for power, and those who think they have a certain amount of strength, such as the Zhili clique and the Fengtian clique, have launched the Zhili-Fengtian War. Isn't this just a war over power and territory? The only ones who truly consider the lives and deaths of the common people are our People's Army. But what is the mission of soldiers? Have you gentlemen present understood this question, have you thought it through carefully?"

  Zhang Yu did not directly point out some problems within the army, which are actually not called problems. The army has been maintaining a regular pattern of fighting every few years, so it was able to capture more than 4 million square kilometers of land from 1914 to 1922. Some people analyzed this pattern and believed that the military would inevitably launch another strong attack, capturing piece by piece of territory for the People's Government, followed by several years of rest and reorganization before setting out again, until the entire China was unified.

  In fact, the People's Autonomous Government has great capabilities, and the current autonomous region is in a very good situation. Although it has withstood a major earthquake test, development within the region is still very good. To the west, there are Tibet and Qinghai provinces available for further expansion, but this expansion has nothing to do with the military. As for the eastern part of the autonomous region, starting from the border with the Russian Empire and going south, it can be seen that more than half of Mongolia is already under the control of the autonomous region. If the army really wants to continue advancing, they will have to take action against some of these people: Yan Xishan in Shanxi, Wu Peifu in Henan and Hubei, Chen Qian in Hunan, and Mo Rongxin in Guangdong.

  The geographical location and the situation of Guangdong are complex, Sun Yat-sen cannot suppress the internal contradictions within the Guangzhou Military Government. Sooner or later, Chen Jiongming and Mo Rongxin will have a big fight, and Long Jiguang in Jiangxi will not stand by idly either. The army going in at this time can only become the target of everyone's attack, it is better to wait for them to make trouble first, when the Guangzhou Military Government is on the verge of collapse, that is the best opportunity to send troops.

  Hunan Province is a very tempting place, and Chen Qian, the actual controller of the province, has a good relationship with the People's Autonomous Government. The opportunity for "peaceful recovery" is quite large, making it impossible to be an object of military action. As for Wu Peifu, who went north, he has occupied Hubei and Henan for many years, and the British are his firm supporters behind him. In fact, his family has many relatives, especially Sun Chuanfang, who controls Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu from behind the scenes. The two of them work together to firmly control the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

  Yan Xishan of Shanxi is also a good guy. In the words of Dai Chengyong, commander of the 3rd Division, he could capture Yan with just one regiment. However, if he were to go after Wu Peifu or Sun Chuanfang's head, he would say that at least the 2nd Division would be needed as support. So although these warlords can move individually, they cannot actually move because the autonomous region needs a quiet atmosphere, time for development, and a golden period of growth. Especially in the three provinces of Xinjiang, Gansu, and Shaanxi, if there isn't a certain foundation before launching military action, bursting into China's traditional political and economic circle would make not only the People's Army but also the People's Autonomous Government a focal point for imperialist powers and warlords. It's like the saying goes: "people fear fame, pigs fear fatness". Especially when the people's government is still not solid enough, it doesn't need to recklessly take action, nor is it time yet.

  "Traditional infantry is no longer in line with the needs of the times, and the professionalization, motorization and informatization of the army will inevitably become the mainstream of development. The days when the army relied on two legs to carry out tactical maneuvers are gone forever... On the European battlefield, Britain used tanks as a sharp weapon for attack, and new tactics emerged with the birth of new weapons. Today's world has entered the era of electric industry, internal combustion engine transportation, and the era of motorization or even mechanization of troops is not far away!"

  "The current system of the army is fully capable of performing various basic tactical tasks, our division, regiment and battalion formations reflect the strategic and tactical needs of a certain period of the army. Now this system has been used for more than eight years, new situations and military changes have appeared at home and abroad, in order to better develop the army, reform is inevitable..."

  The army's reform this time can be said to be comprehensive, but also incomplete. Its core is the transformation of the military towards motorization and technologicalization. In essence, the army will become more professionalized to adapt to future large-scale cluster warfare. To put it simply, motorization is a transition, and mechanization is the goal. In layman's terms, new weapons such as tanks and armored vehicles will appear in the military, and with new weapons come new tactics and formations, so the so-called military reform is just that.

  On April 5, 1923, the People's Army issued a military reform order signed by Zhang Yu, Commander-in-Chief of the People's Army. Along with the reform order, the "Guiding Opinions on the Reform of the People's Army", the new "Regulations on Officer Management of the People's Army" and a new opinion on the reform of the military power system were also issued.

  The People's Army has only three branches, the army, air force and navy. Throughout the autonomous region, those who can hold guns, in addition to the People's Army, are only the armed police corps, public security forces, and the militia battalions of various provinces and cities after the reform. In short, the People's Army is heading for better development, and the "stepping stone" is the former militia reserve division... An old soldier's views on military reform are correct and clear, the People's Army cannot accommodate three reserve divisions and instructional brigades, the trend of the times and the strategic development of the people's government have forced the People's Army to make changes.

  Regardless of how many people viewed this transformation, after the order was issued, each army quickly and resolutely executed the command. The First Reserve Division stationed in Sichuan, the Second Reserve Division in Guizhou, and the Third Reserve Division in Yunnan were all renamed as the People's Army Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Divisions respectively. Then, together with some of the Seventh Division, new recruits from 1922, and the First Division stationed in Xinjiang and the Second Division in Gansu, they formed the First Army, with Tang Renhuai as the commander and Wu Dongping as the political commissar, facing northwest, namely Xinjiang, Gansu, and Qinghai provinces.

  The Second Army, mainly composed of the Third Division stationed in Shaanxi which had absorbed a large number of new recruits, and also incorporated the remnants of the Seventh Division and the entire Eighth Division, was formed with Dai Chengyong as its commander and Guo Yiming as its political commissar. The Second Army was primarily based in Shaanxi, Mongolia, and Suiyuan, with Beijing, Shanxi, and Henan provinces being their future targets.

  The Third Army, mainly composed of the Sixth Division stationed in Nanning, also incorporated the former Yunnan Reserve Third Division which had been renamed as the Ninth Division. Mu Da was its commander and Lei Yong was its political commissar. The southwest region was their long-term residence, and Southeast Asia might be their target for attack and defense.

  The Fourth Army was mainly composed of the Fifth Division stationed in Wuzhou, and after some troops from the Fourth Division entered Hainan, it became the smallest army among the four major group armies of the land army. The commander-in-chief was Deng Laben, and the political commissar was Lin Zhongze. They originally planned to incorporate the Instructional Brigade stationed in Liuzhou into the Fourth Army to expand its scale, but the Instructional Brigade had a larger framework, and the Fourth Army had other tasks, so it let go of the Instructional Brigade and became the smallest army among the four major armies of the land army.

  The 41st Army Division was reorganized into a rapid reaction force, and its long-term garrison in Liuzhou made it different from other troops. After this transformation, the division became even more different from other troops. They embarked on a path of "cooperation" with the Air Force. The four major military regions may still have to compete to decide which group army will establish an armored experimental unit, and they are eager to leave behind the "sea of suffering" of sitting in cars and motorcycles and rush towards a beautiful future as a mechanized force. They have already begun to use aircraft to mobilize and fight, and responding quickly to emergencies is their mission. The Air Force's plan is to use the rapid reaction division to experiment with the feasibility of building a future airborne army.

  However, the fastest was the Navy. Wang Hui, who had been stationed on Hainan Island for too long, found a special way to expand his forces - by leading some of the troops swept away by the 4th Army to join the Navy and become the first batch of the Marine Corps. Although it was only a regiment in size, the Navy indeed needed some land-based forces, especially those familiar with the ocean like the 4th Division. But Deng Lai Ben didn't want to be a military commander with only one division under his command, so he reluctantly handed over more than half of the 4th Division to the Navy, leaving only one regiment as the foundation for development, which was already quite "humane". Later, the Navy quickly recruited some combat personnel from other places and barely formed a brigade-sized force for its Marine Corps.

  At this point, the People's Liberation Army General Staff and Headquarters quickly decided to use the Fourth Army as a pilot for armored forces, while the Air Force could work with the rapid reaction brigade to study the feasibility of establishing an airborne army. The Navy would develop its amphibious warfare doctrine and tactics based on the 1st Marine Brigade, which was also the only branch of the land force.

  However, there is a Chinese saying that "when the city gate catches fire, it burns the fish in the moat". Although the army says it's just a reform, many comrades who have fought side by side for years are suddenly separated, which is a bad thing. But there are still many good things about it. It is rumored that the National Defense Science and Technology University and the National Defense University will be established under the army. If this rumor is true, the two universities will be located in Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces, and the army will get more benefits. However, the air force and navy are not too envious of the army, and they are both smart enough to take advantage of the situation without being too arrogant like the army. After all, the two armies are still weak, so it's best to seize every opportunity to develop and avoid trouble.

  "The air force has shown its face in the maritime source earthquake relief efforts, and we are all clear about the merits it has established. With three major aviation groups providing support there, the development of the air force is very promising. Especially in today's world, we are still the first to militarize and regularize air power, and wars are fought asymmetrically. The army says that our strong fist is powerful, offense is a sharp blade, defense is a strong shield, while the air force can be said to be the magic weapon of our people's military..."

  Zhang Yu didn't plan to hold the position of Air Force Commander for long, after Jiang Yangying grew up he planned to hand over power, Haiyuan's big earthquake showed that the air force was not bad, this is considered as Jiang Yangying's ability show before becoming orthodox, at the same time established his own prestige, Zhang Yu then handed over the position of Air Force Commander in early 23 years, leaving only the position of Three Army Commander.

  "This I know, the Commander-in-Chief is extremely meticulous with the three armies, especially the air force. The air force is a high-tech branch of the military, and has strong autonomous region industrial power as its foundation. Naturally, the future of the air force is bright."

  Jiang Yangying is not good at flattering, he is a real learning-type general, following Zhang Yu from aircraft development to design production and finalization, he is always learning, the air force is different from the army, it can be said that the vast majority of human warfare history is on the land side, the development of the army follows very strong historical regularity, while human flight dreams have just come true, with various flying machines as combat platforms, the air force wants to have experience and learning examples are impossible, the development of the air force largely relies on Zhang Yu's guidance and the air force's own exploration, of course, the development strategy of the navy and air force since its establishment is all written by Zhang Yu, although not wrong but without basic tactics, the direction of development can be pointed out, but to truly form specific combat effectiveness, still need the navy and air force themselves to ponder and explore.

  Military aviation refers to the use of aircraft for military purposes, mainly including combat, reconnaissance, transportation, alertness, training and rescue. In the future, seizing air supremacy in war is the key to determining the direction of war development, and it is also the main purpose of the air force. Military aviation activities are mainly carried out by military aircraft, which can be divided into two categories: combat aircraft and combat support aircraft.

  "We all know that the typical combat aircraft of an air force include fighters, attack aircraft, fighter-bombers, strategic and tactical bombers, etc., while support combat aircraft include military transport planes, communication liaison planes, reconnaissance planes, military training planes, etc. Helicopters have functions in reconnaissance, transportation, communication liaison, search and rescue, etc., which were already demonstrated during the Wenchuan earthquake."

  As time progresses, we believe that two categories of aircraft will emerge for new purposes. However, no matter how we calculate it, there are only three types of aircraft available for us to develop: the C-01 "Blue Eagle" plane, the F-01 "Flying Hawk" fighter jet, and the Z-01 "Bamboo Dragonfly" helicopter. All the uses that can be thought of will be developed based on these models. Zhang Yu's familiarity with the air force is quite high, which is also a necessary awareness and approach for a transmigrator as a second-generation person. Emphasizing air power is inevitable and necessary.

  "Yes! Our development foundation is these three aircraft, and for a long time, the air force will focus on development and growth. The three aircraft will bring out many derivative models for different purposes, and different aspects will have different tactics. We need time to get familiar with and master them. In the future, we can't predict how things will change, but what we can do is grow up well and lay a solid foundation. With a certain foundation, we can better adapt to various changes in the future." Jiang Yangying deeply understood the difficulties of air force development. The constantly developing world would one day make everyone realize the importance of air power. Jiang Yangying didn't think his air force was a group of foolish birds, but he still understood the principle of flying first and gaining an advantage.

  "Yes, take the C-01 Blue Eagle transport aircraft of the former Zhonghua Aviation Group as an example. The excellence of this plane is self-evident, just look at how two civil aviation companies have made a fortune using them. Based on it, a range of 3000 kilometers and a payload of over 2 tons are extremely impressive. Developing it into a bomber with a combat radius of 1200 kilometers, military transport aircraft, communication relay aircraft is not a difficult task, and we have already done so. Whether we need to fly further or carry more in the future, we don't know, but for now, we know it's very good, and it's also one of the most advanced in the world."

  "Our F-01 Flying Eagle fighter, the world's first single-wing all-metal high-speed combat aircraft, armed with 20mm cannons or 12.7mm heavy machine guns, mainly for air-to-air combat and gaining air superiority, can also be developed into special-purpose variants, such as carrying bombs, attacking ships and land targets, making it a great tactical support aircraft. We have already tried having pilots fly the plane in dives and shoot, drop bombs, which may change the future warfare patterns of navies and armies..."

  "Ah?" Hearing Jiang Yangying's casual remark, Zhang Yu almost spat out the tea in his mouth. "This is good, very good, daring to try all sorts of new and strange tactics is a good thing, but we must pay attention to the safety of our pilots, every one of them is a treasure, but do you really think that the air force can be used for naval warfare? Using planes to bomb enemy ships from the air, or using fighter jets to launch torpedoes, have you guys tried that before?"

  Zhang Yu certainly knew what kind of planes would be used to execute those tactics in the future, weren't dive bombers and torpedo bombers the two types of tactical aircraft derived from those two tactics? Of course, the autonomous region did not have a specialized research and development for such aircraft at present, and the air force was using fighter jets to try it out, which was already beyond Zhang Yu's expectations, because he hadn't even had time to tell the navy and air force about the specific tactical development model of the two armies in the future, and unexpectedly they started messing around on their own. The army was busy with armor, and the navy and air force thought of coordination, which really made Zhang Yu feel delighted.

  "This... Last year, Commander Chen Shaokuan of the Navy discussed with you the future development direction of the Navy, and then the US side's Washington Conference entered into negotiations on the tonnage ratio of naval vessels. Commander Chen Shaokuan found me and said he wanted to try a new idea, which could find a shortcut for the Navy to become a world-class navy quickly if done well. The method was simple: let me dispatch a fighter squadron to experiment with his idea. Later, the pilots' reports wrote that they were called by Commander Chen to attack warships and fixed fortifications on land, dropping torpedoes, bombs, and so on..."

  "Chen Shaokuan that kid does such a good thing, how can he not even give his old man a heads up?" Zhang Yu muttered to himself for a while before asking Jiang Yangying with a smile: "Didn't he tell you about the results of his idea experiment? He borrowed an entire fighter squadron and didn't compensate you at all? That guy really dares to take out his precious warships for simulated attacks..."

  "He didn't say, but that person has all the good things hidden away, as if afraid someone would find out. He lent me a small team without discussing any returns, just saying that he owed me a favor and that the Navy would definitely repay him in the future. And he said that even a small kindness would be repaid with great generosity." Jiang Yangying was very surprised at Zhang Yu's reaction and quickly asked: "Commander, did you discover something? I only know that the Washington Conference in the US is very important for the future development of the world's navies, especially for Chen Shaokuan. But the major powers still attach importance to big guns and giant warships as before. I guess Commander Chen must have seen some clues, putting planes on warships is a good idea, if..."

  "What if? You're a smart person, Chen Shaokuan is even smarter than you, do you know that you've been played by him? I think you also understand, from now on your air force will have more opponents. Chen Shaokuan said something about '涌泉相报' (a Chinese idiom meaning to repay kindness with ingratitude), and you actually believed it?" After finishing speaking, Zhang Yu looked at Jiang Yangying who was sitting across the desk with a look of sudden enlightenment, shook his head and laughed: "Don't worry, no matter how much the navy develops its air power, how big can our country's territorial waters be for them to mess around? The skies above our 1.4 billion square kilometers of land are still your air force's domain, Jiang Yangying."

  After Zhang Yu's persuasion, Jiang Yangying seemed to have suppressed the evil fire in her heart and immediately turned her sad face into a smile. She said: "The performance of this Flying Eagle fighter is not bad. The maximum takeoff weight is 3800 kg, the maximum level flight speed can reach 480 km/h at an altitude of 5000 meters, the maximum flight altitude is 9000 meters, and the combat radius with full load including a 100 kg bomb is 300 kilometers. Moreover, it is equipped with four 20 mm machine guns with 650 rounds of ammunition, which can be said to be an excellent fighter. Chen Shaokuan shouldn't look down on it, right?"

  "Anyway, I think this kid has that idea, using planes to drop torpedoes and bombs is a special idea, you'd better pay attention, the navy can come up with these ideas, it shows their innovative consciousness and ability are immeasurable, the air force had better catch up, but I think you might as well cooperate with Chen Shaokuan, learn from each other. In the future, he can stir up trouble at sea, and you can make a big noise on land, who says the navy can diversify, the air force can too..."

  "This is always bullying the old brother of the army, and it's really pitiful for the army!" Jiang Yangying has once again taken advantage of the situation to show off, but this time, she has truly verified Zhang Yu's words - "Reality is harsh". For better development and a brighter future, everyone has a competitive consciousness and chooses their own means. Reality becomes more and more harsh through repeated struggles."