latelenovela Chapter 109: Those who have stable property have stable heart - Zhang Chi's plan to settle down
Chapter 109: Those who have stable property have stable heart - Zhang Chi's plan to settle down
Stevenson saw clearly the White Party's dirty tricks. They were simply afraid of losing control of the troops deployed overseas.
However, for the sake of the overall situation, he endured it.
In order to continue cooperation with the allies, Stevenson held back on the fact that Force X, originally planned to have at least five divisions, currently only had the new 22nd and 38th Divisions under the new 1st Army.
So what about the Y Force, which is composed of more than a dozen Eagle Equipment Reorganized Divisions trained in Yunnan Province?
This Y Force was also completely supplied with all its weapons and supplies by Stevenson via the Hump Route.
While the food standards set for each soldier aren't as high as those of the New 1st Army soldiers in Sindhu, who are fully on par with the White Eagle soldiers, they should still have no problem filling their stomachs...
...right?
However, the corruption within the White Party army completely shocked Stevenson and other White Eagle United States people.
The White Eagle instructors who went to Chuncheng to be in charge of training found that many Qian Kingdom soldiers looked skinny no matter how much they ate.
Although a large amount of White Eagle resources were continuously transported to Spring City, the soldiers' condition did not improve at all.
After eating so much flour and canned food airlifted from the United States, even a kitten would be as fat as a pig, right?
This situation was incredible and difficult for the US military instructors to accept.
Stevenson, who flew to Spring City himself, even wrote in his diary after his inspection:
"They are too thin. Not to mention marching and fighting, any strenuous physical exercise could kill them."
After some investigation, Stevenson found out that the reason why those Qian soldiers could not gain weight was because the supplies, money and rations that should have been supplied to them were resold to the black market by a group of White Party officers.
On the black market in Chuncheng, everything from silk stockings to Westin pianos to sulfa drugs to canned White Eagle luncheon meat is available. These precious aid supplies can be purchased by anyone with dollars, small yellow croakers, and greenbacks, but the soldiers who should have received them are left empty-handed.
The soldiers of more than a dozen divisions of the Y Force only had two meals a day, one dry meal and one liquid meal, with only a small amount of pickles as supplementary food.
These poor soldiers, whose ribs were so thin that they were exposed, formed a sharp contrast with the spirited and muscular soldiers of the newly formed 212th Division in James's photos, which also made Stevenson trust Zhang Chi more.
Therefore, when Stevenson learned that the White Party's civil engineering boss was preparing to annex the 212th Division, the only elite unit in his hands, the only one that had enough food and clothing, did not engage in black market smuggling, and wholeheartedly used Eagle Aid supplies to fight the Japanese.
Stevenson's sanity was at zero.
Anger erupted from the bottom of his heart like a volcano, and his blood pressure rose wildly, even the mercury meter in the infirmary was alarmed.
Countless strongly worded telegrams were sent from the Allied theater headquarters. Stevenson even made a rare threat with the supplies of the Hump Route. After a series of seemingly meaningless curses that actually needed to be silenced, he finally gave up the covetousness of the civil engineering bosses.
However, Stevenson knew very well that these people would not give up easily.
Since they couldn't swallow the 212th Division in one gulp, the bosses still had other ways to take it down piecemeal.
Promotion, wealth, women. Divide, win over, and gradually disintegrate.
One of the White Party’s tactics always comes in handy.
What he can do is to try his best to protect the army he trusts and prevent it from being completely devoured by the corrupt forces within.
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Let’s go back to Zhang Chi’s office.
It is precisely because Zhang Chi stands at the downstream of history and has a 5000-year history that he knows very well that this kind of solicitation is pervasive, especially for a group leader like Hao Yi, who may be absorbed by other forces if he is not careful.
Zhang Chi had to take precautions and call Hao Yi to his office to give him some detailed instructions to avoid any further complications.
"This time, your superiors have specifically asked you to lead the soldiers of the 1st Regiment to the Ramgarh Training Base to accept the inspection of the special envoy of the Ministry of National Defense. You understand what to do, right?" Although Zhang Chi's tone was light, it revealed an invisible oppression.
When Hao Yi heard this, he shuddered all over.
The leader has sent other people away to talk to you alone. If you don’t show your loyalty now, when will you show it?
Do you still want to make progress?
He quickly straightened his upper body, his voice firm:
"Without you, my Lord, I, Old Hao, would have been injured and torn to pieces by the Japanese while retreating with the 66th Regiment. You could say that my life was dragged from the underworld by you, my Lord. My life is yours!"
There was a sincere light in his eyes when he said this.
At this time, the moral concepts of the Qian people had not yet collapsed, and Hao Yi was a typical tough guy of the Gui army. He came from a grassroots background and attached great importance to loyalty and righteousness.
He never dared to forget Zhang Chi's kindness.
"Another thing is, I'm just a rough guy. If it weren't for your support, I would have been a platoon leader all my life. This time, I killed Takamoto Takuma. Even if they give me a one-ton medal, I don't care. I only obey your orders. No one can pull me away!"
"Besides, I'm from the Guijun Army, not a Whampoa Military Academy graduate. Even if someone offers me the position of division commander, I'll have to take it back when the time comes, right?"
"Please rest assured, my Lord, you are the only one in my heart..."
"Hey, stop, stop..." Zhang Chi, who was nodding in satisfaction, heard Hao Yi talking more and more disgustingly, so he quickly interrupted him.
He was still very satisfied with Hao Yi's attitude.
What he was afraid of was that Hao Yi would suddenly rise to a high position and lose his sense of direction, and that he would be tempted by some random promises made by high-ranking officials of the Ministry of National Defense, and would take more than 3000 people from the 1st Regiment and stay in Ramgarh, Sindhu, and run away with others.
Zhang Chi held a cigarette in his mouth and half-lay on the sofa in a relaxed manner.
Seeing this, Hao Yi quickly took out his ZIPPO lighter and lit it for his commander.
Zhang Chi blew out a puff of smoke and said with a hint of sarcasm, "I'm glad you understand this. But if I really give you a one-ton silver medal, you'll have to take it back. The silver is very useful."
When Hao Yi heard this, he burst into laughter and promised with his chest:
"I understand. When the time comes, I'll eat the sugar coating and return the cannonball."
He knew that his superiors were very powerful and could obtain advanced tanks and planes in an endless supply as long as they had gold, silver and precious metals.
"By the way, Lao Hao, are you still single?" Zhang Chi knew that winning people's hearts was not just about persuasion, the deeper interests behind it were the key to making people stick with him.
He glanced at Hao Yi and suddenly asked.
"The four Nanyang families of Liu, Li, Bai, and Yan, as well as our Zhang family, whether it's the Cantonese Zhang family or the Malay Zhang family, there are many women of marriageable age. Old Hao, if you don't want to be a bachelor for the rest of your life, you'd better hurry up."
Zhang Chi's tone was relaxed, but there was a meaningful look in his eyes.
Hao Yi was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized the deep meaning of this sentence. He laughed out loud, his mouth almost reaching behind his ears:
"Your Excellency, please stop joking! I, Old Hao, am just an uneducated dog. How can I know whether a lady from a noble family is good or bad? As long as it's your Commander Zhang who picks her, it must be the right one!"
Zhang Chi nodded and said half-jokingly:
"Once we've driven the Japs away, Old Hao, you can cultivate a few hundred acres of fertile land in Bago, have more children, plant more trees, and spread your branches. What do you think?"
When Hao Yi heard this, his heart was burning with joy, knowing that this was the reward for his loyalty.
He was so excited that he didn't know how to respond. He could only pat his chest and say, "Don't worry, my lord. Whether it's fertile land or a wife, it's up to you. I, Old Hao, will take it all."
Zhang Chi waved his hand and said casually, "Okay, I'll look for you first. When the time is right, I'll arrange a good marriage for all of you brothers who have made contributions. Then you can go straight into the bridal chamber and each of you will be the groom!"
Zhang Chi was not prepared to arrange a marriage right now. After all, the Japanese were still wreaking havoc, and the soldiers were still fighting. If the commander married a woman, it would cause great damage to morale.
On the contrary, Zhang Chi planned to wait until the land was distributed to the grassroots soldiers and officers, and then marry a "royal daughter" to senior officers of the 212th Division such as Hao Yi, Qi Quan, and Bai Minghui.
In this way, the grassroots soldiers had land in Bogu, and the senior officers were tied to the interests of the big families in Nanyang. Only then could the army under his command take deep roots in Nanyang, making it easier for him to implement his "big plan".
"Alright, besides your 1st Regiment and the Artillery Regiment, there's also a new batch of officer training teams and a new recruit regiment that need to go to the Ramgarh training base this time. I'll leave them all to you, Hao Yi."
"Yes, I will ensure that the mission is completed. They can't take any of these soldiers away. I must bring them all back in one piece!"
Hao Yi saluted solemnly again, put on his military cap and turned to leave.
When he pushed open the door, he found that the commander of the 2nd Regiment, Qi Quan, was standing outside, apparently waiting for Zhang Chi's summons.