Chapter 196: Zhou Weiguo’s Surprise: Which German-equipped Troops Are These?
In Tianjin, those students who had fled from Beiping City, after originally learning that the 29th Army had abandoned Beiping City in the middle of the night and fled out of the city, all boiled over with enthusiasm, cursing nonstop, and feeling that Beiping City was done for this time, and would definitely be swiftly occupied by the Japanese Army, becoming a fallen area.
But the situation took a sudden turn, and before they could feel dejected and resentful for long, some students came holding the latest published newspaper, telling them that Beiping City had not fallen under the Japanese Army’s offensive iron hooves on that very day, and German-equipped troops had appeared in Beiping City, defeating the first wave of incoming Japanese vanguard troops, achieving a victory report in the first battle.
For such an astonishing message beyond their wildest dreams, it immediately exploded like a depth charge among these student groups, boiling over, with everyone talking at once in heated discussion.
“Hiss! No way! Are these front-page headline messages in the newspapers real? How could German-equipped troops have come to Beiping City without us hearing a single whisper? We only fled from Beiping City to take refuge here not long ago! If I had known German-equipped troops were stationed to hold fast in Beiping City, I wouldn’t have left!”
“I never dreamed of such a reversal either! I originally thought that after Beiping City lost the protection of the 29th Army, it would definitely fully fall under the edge of the army of the Japanese that same day, but now it hasn’t fallen, and they even won the first battle against the Japanese?”
“Speaking of German-equipped troops, aren’t those the Central Army’s troops? When did they come to Beiping City? And they came so secretly? How did they avoid reconnaissance by the Japanese Army’s intelligence agencies?”
“Who cares! Anyway, with German-equipped troops stationed to hold fast in Beiping City, I think it won’t be captured by Japanese troops for a while, and those Japanese troops might even suffer quite a few casualties! This is the most elite German-equipped troops in the nation that our Central Army frequently publishes reports about in newspapers! Even foreign newspapers have promoted them! So it’s not easy for the Japanese to win against them!”
“That’s for sure, they’re not like the 29th Army’s troops with inferior weapons, they’re all German-equipped troops with excellent weapons! Otherwise, why could they achieve victory in the first battle, and have it reported and promoted so quickly by major newspaper offices!”
“So do you think with German-equipped troops entering Beiping City, can they hold fast there? I heard that the Japanese troops coming to attack this time are quite numerous! Although the Japanese troops currently conducting the offensive operation are only one branch, the Japanese 20th Division, subsequent Japanese troops have already appeared in the Fengtai and Lugou Bridge areas! If they all join forces to attack the German-equipped troops in Beiping, I wonder if these German-equipped troops can still hold fast! Quite worrying! That’s my hometown! I don’t want it to just fall under Japanese occupation like that!”
“Hard to say! It depends on how many troops the German-equipped troops entering Beiping City have, if the troop numbers are too few and too disparate compared to the Japanese troops, then it’s hard to say!”
“But the newspaper didn’t say how many German-equipped troops came to hold fast in Beiping City! Instead, that 29th Army’s Division Commander Zhang Zi–zhong became the acting mayor of Beiping City!”
“Wait for the subsequent front-page headline news! There will definitely be reports!”
Various remarks continuously came from the mouths of these students who were enthusiastic like they had been injected with chicken blood, boiling with enthusiasm, chattering away, noisily discussing heatedly,
but none of them knew exactly how many German-equipped troops had come to Beiping City,
and what direction the subsequent battle situation would take,
whether they could hold fast in Beiping City.
And scenes of such heated discussion and shocking front-page headline news also soon appeared in the foreign public concession, as well as Shanghai, and the capital Nanjing,
instantly sparking enthusiastic heated discussion among people from all walks of life and major cities.
Even Zhou Weiguo saw such a newspaper at his own station.
“When were German-equipped troops dispatched to Beiping City to resist Japanese invaders?”
“How come I haven’t heard a single piece of news about it?”
After reading the newspaper,
even Zhou Weiguo had a puzzled expression on his face, exclaiming in surprise.
At the same time, he was also wondering whether to use his personal connections to immediately inquire which German-equipped troops had been secretly deployed to such a distant place in Northern China to conduct operations resisting Japanese invaders.
And exactly which numbered German-equipped troops had been dispatched and mobilized.
Because he also wanted to apply to let his own troops join the Beiping battlefield together, going all out to kill Japanese soldiers.
But just as Zhou Weiguo was thinking this,
a major general officer, under the escort of a convoy of cars,
arrived at his station, and walked in, heading toward Zhou Weiguo’s position.
