Chapter 150: Blocking Someone
As early as in Nanjing, Su Yaoyang had suffered enough from Japanese aircraft, and he was truly fed up with the feeling of being able to only passively endure the bombings without any ability to fight back.
He had always wanted to establish his own air force, but from Nanjing all the way to Xuzhou, the troops had been continuously fighting, and moreover, without their own territory, he had always been powerless despite his intentions.
Now that he finally had his own territory, that air force dream which had been suppressed for a long time began to stir again.
Of course, Su Yaoyang also knew that the air force was different from the army; this thing not only burned money but also required a large number of professional talents to operate, so he did not expect to do it himself from the start, but instead preferred to hire foreign aid, just like the Flying Tigers in another spacetime—this was the reason he had found John.
Originally, when he had just met this guy, Su Yaoyang thought he was just a money-grubbing corpse picker of the lowest class, otherwise he wouldn’t do that kind of ninth-rate job of picking up corpses; who would have thought that this guy was actually a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, and had even participated in World War I.
At this time, wasn’t the benefit of having been classmates together just showing itself?
This was just like in later generations, there was a top graduate from Tsinghua or Peking University in his company; as the company boss, he urgently needed top talent in a certain field. Although he didn’t know anyone in that field himself, it didn’t matter—that top graduate from Tsinghua or Peking University knew people.
As long as he went through acquaintances’ classmates and circled around a few times, he could always find them; this was the power of being classmates.
Hearing that Su Yaoyang wanted to find flight-related talents through him, John looked troubled. “Sir… although it’s true that I graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, we are an army unit, which has absolutely nothing to do with the air force.”
“No, no, no… who said the army has nothing to do with the air force? You may not know air force people yourself, but your friends or comrades-in-arms must know some, right?
My requirements aren’t high either; among your comrades-in-arms, there must be some pilots who aren’t doing well or are short of money, right? As long as you can bring them over, I’ll give them generous rewards.
How about this: for every pilot you bring, I’ll give you a thousand US dollars; for those pilots willing to come work here, I’ll pay them a salary of five hundred US dollars per month, and additionally, for every Japanese aircraft shot down, there will be an extra reward of no less than two hundred dollars. What do you think?”
“A thousand US dollars reward for every person I bring?” Upon hearing this, John’s eyes went a bit straight.
This was a thousand US dollars in 1938, which was equivalent to a year’s savings for an ordinary American middle-class family, enough to buy a car, pay a down payment on a house, or support living expenses for several years.
Now, just bringing in one person could get so much money; which cadre could resist such temptation?
“No problem!”
John’s answer was so quick.
“Although I don’t know those air force people, I have a few buddies who know air force people; I’ll send them telegrams and have them find talents in this area for me.”
“Remember… time must be fast.” Su Yaoyang instructed: “We don’t have much time; our air force must be established in the shortest possible time. Do you understand?”
“I understand.” John also understood the urgency of time and guaranteed on the spot: “I’ll go send telegrams right away, have them find people as soon as possible, and then come over quickly.”
For the sake of those green US dollars, John’s efficiency was very high; after leaving the office, he went straight to the communications section and sent a telegram to a friend in Shanghai, asking him to send two transoceanic telegrams to the United States on his behalf.
After doing all this, the grand expansion campaign then began.
Su Yaoyang and Pi Ruoyu calculated that after this expansion, the troop numbers would surge to sixteen or seventeen thousand, with a shortfall of over ten thousand; Wutaixian County alone simply couldn’t recruit that many qualified soldiers, so they had to strike comprehensively.
In the following period, the Shanxi Militia not only began recruiting in the county town but also sent people to villages, neighboring counties, and even neighboring Hebei to recruit on a large scale.
Originally, Su Yaoyang thought it would be impossible to recruit so many in such a short time without shedding several layers of skin, but unexpectedly, as soon as the news of soldier recruitment spread, young and strong men from the county and villages came to enlist continuously, quite like the scene in later generations where young people eagerly joined the army.
Later, when he inquired, he found that most people were actually coming for the militia’s generous pay and food.
After all, times were really tough; there were poor people everywhere who couldn’t survive. For many young people, enlisting was a way out.
Moreover, the terms offered by the Shanxi Militia were extremely sincere.
A newly enlisted private could receive four silver dollars per month, which was equivalent to seven yuan in legal tender; in the second year, the rank automatically promoted to second-class private, and the pay increased to five.
After three years of service, the rank automatically promoted to first-class private, and the monthly pay would reach six silver dollars—such pay was higher than that of the central army, and with Su Yaoyang this cheat-code guy around, the militia’s food was surprisingly good.
Sorghum rice and steamed buns were unlimited; every meal had cabbage, shredded potatoes, and American canned luncheon meat in abundance—this was a huge temptation for most young people who couldn’t even eat their fill.
Previously, when Su Yaoyang was studying or watching ancient dramas, he often heard the phrase “even if dying, die as a full ghost,” which he treated as a joke at the time, but in this era, it was stark reality.
In some impoverished areas, starving to death was not uncommon; to survive, ten jin of cornmeal or a few steamed buns could exchange for a wife—this was all too common.
Under everyone’s joint efforts, in just over ten days of Pi Ruoyu’s time, the recruitment work was successfully completed, and the troops quickly plunged into intense training, but soon new problems arose.
“Sir, just allocate some to me… twenty… twenty is fine… if not twenty, then ten will do…”
In Su Yaoyang’s office, the newly appointed Third Regiment Commander Lu Shaobin had been pestering Su Yaoyang for half a day.
He had come to ask for people, and not ordinary soldiers, but officers.
With the troop expansion, the numbers had surged, and the need for officers had increased accordingly.
What to do?
They could only promote; veteran soldiers promoted to squad leaders, squad leaders to platoon leaders, platoon leaders to company commanders, and so on.
Even so, the officer shortfall was still huge; Li Gaoyuan, Huang Guantao, and Lu Shaobin were pestering Su Yaoyang and Pi Ruoyu every day for people, but where could the two get them from?
Back in Xuzhou, they could still poach from various hospitals and units in Xuzhou, since at that time the Xuzhou area had gathered over six hundred thousand troops; a mere few thousand for the security regiment, no matter how hard they dug, how many could they get?
But now it’s different; where are the sheep in Wutaixian County for him to shear? This was why Lu Shaobin had blocked Su Yaoyang in the office.
