Chapter 130: A Guest Arrives
“Tojo Hideki?”
Okabe Naosaburo’s gaze froze for a moment; this guy’s reputation was no small matter.
Having graduated from the 27th class of the Army University, he was a junior of Terauchi Hisaichi and was always known for his tough stance toward the outside.
Now serving as the Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, he was said to be preparing to return to the home islands to serve as Vice Minister of the Army. This position already belonged to the core circle of the Japanese Army, capable of influencing the Army’s development direction and formulating strategic policies.
Hearing that this guy was targeting Terauchi Hisaichi, Okabe Naosaburo’s heart couldn’t help but tighten, and he asked worriedly: “Commander, if that’s really the case, then we’re in trouble. You know, this guy has been very much in the Emperor’s favor these past two years.”
“Favor or not, soldiers rely on strength, not flattery.” Terauchi Hisaichi waved his hand disdainfully.
“This private has been in Manchuria too long and has even forgotten basic military common sense. Although the 10th Division and 16th Division suffered setbacks, that doesn’t mean we’ve failed. To use the Chinese people’s words, it’s still uncertain who the deer will die under.
Pass my orders: the 5th Division, 14th Division, and 3rd, 9th, 13th, and 101st Divisions will advance toward Xuzhou as originally planned and must arrive at the destination before the 6th.”
“Hai!” Okabe Naosaburo bowed and went down to convey the orders.
While the Japanese army was busy deploying troops, the National Army side was also jubilant.
The news of the great victory at Tai’erzhuang spread across the country at lightning speed, even crossing the oceans to reach America, Europe, and the whole world.
In an instant, the whole nation was celebrating. As the supreme commander of the Xuzhou Campaign, Li Zongren was unrivaled in fame, with countless reporters crowding into Xuzhou to request interviews with this general.
But unlike those civilians and reporters, the senior generals and military and political bigwigs knew it like the back of their hands: the greatest contributor to such a brilliant victory in the Battle of Tai’erzhuang was that security regiment that fought its way out of Nanjing.
Faced with such a battle-hardened unit, no commander would be unmoved, as evidenced by the sudden arrival of a large group of officers from various places who quietly came to Xuzhou in the past few days.
April 8, Security Regiment barracks in the suburbs of Xuzhou City
Since two days ago, when Su Yaoyang led his troops back to the barracks, they had begun intensive reorganization.
Knowing history, he was aware that although they had won the Tai’erzhuang Campaign, China’s overall strength compared to Japan was still far too lacking, and it was not wise to mobilize the entire nation’s strength to decisive battle with Japan at Xuzhou.
Xuzhou would ultimately have to be abandoned. What he needed to do now was to take advantage of these few days to intensively reorganize the troops, and by the way, gather recovered veteran soldiers and officers from major hospitals to prepare for the upcoming evacuation.
This day, Su Yaoyang had just returned from inspecting the troops and was having lunch with Song Mei and Xiao Lu when Xu Dapeng came to report that Chief Li and Chief Bai’s motorcade had arrived outside the camp area.
Upon hearing this, Su Yaoyang quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks to go out and greet them. Just as he reached the outside of the tent, he saw Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi coming together, surrounded by a group of officers of various ranks, a large crowd.
Before they even got close, Li Zongren’s hearty laughter came over: “Mingxi… this time Build Sheng and I came uninvited; we didn’t disturb you, did we?”
Su Yaoyang hurriedly stepped forward and saluted the two men: “Hello, Chief Li! Hello, Chief Bai! Hello, all chiefs!”
While Su Yaoyang was saluting the crowd, Song Mei and Xiao Lu also walked out of the tent.
Dressed in military uniforms, they couldn’t help but feel nervous at the sight of so many generals.
Instinctively standing behind Su Yaoyang, they imitated him and saluted Li and Bai and the crowd, saying in unison: “Hello, all chiefs.”
“Good… very good…”
Song Mei and Xiao Lu stood side by side.
Song Mei’s posture was straight like a green pine, her phoenix eyes slightly upturned, with a natural three parts of coolness in her gaze.
She neatly coiled her jet-black long hair under her military cap, accentuating the delicacy of her oval face.
Beside her, Xiao Lu was half a head shorter, her round almond eyes brimming with watery light, like a fawn newly born in the forest.
When the warm breeze brushed her fluffy bangs, one could see a faint brown mole between her brows trembling lightly with her breath.
Bai Chongxi had a face full of admiration and turned to Li Zongren: “Now I understand why Mingxi insisted on asking you to be their matchmaker. If it were me, I wouldn’t bear to part with them either!”
Li Zongren also smiled: “I had no choice. At that time, Tai’erzhuang was in dire straits, and this kid put on a stance of ‘the wind is bleak, the Xi River is cold, a hero goes and never returns.’
I softened for a moment and asked him what his wish was. This kid directly said that if he could come back alive, please let me be the matchmaker. How could I refuse?”
Bai Chongxi chuckled: “Hey… doesn’t this count as taking advantage of someone’s misfortune?”
Li Zongren couldn’t help but laugh: “It doesn’t count… at most, it’s a bitter ploy.”
“Hahaha…” The generals standing behind the two burst into laughter upon hearing this.
Although the Republic of China had promulgated the purple Republic of China Civil Law purple fourth book blue Kinship book blue back in 1930, clearly stipulating that the marriage system was monogamy.
But the custom of one husband with multiple wives and concubines in China for thousands of years hadn’t vanished so quickly, and many places still retained this old custom.
So, although Su Yaoyang wanting to marry two girls at the same time didn’t conform to current law, it wasn’t uncommon.
At this time, a burly Sun Lianzhong stepped forward and said to Su Yaoyang: “Mingxi… today Chief Li and Chief Bai came specially to fulfill the previous promise.
We are just here to join in the fun and by the way visit. You won’t mind us, right?”
Su Yaoyang knew it like the back of his hand; saying they were following Li Zongren to propose marriage was just an excuse. The real purpose was that these people were curious why Su Yaoyang could achieve such a brilliant record at Tai’erzhuang and also wanted to probe the bottom of the security regiment.
He laughed: “Of course not… you are most welcome. Please come in, all chiefs.”
With that, he gestured with his left hand in invitation.
Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi took the lead with hands behind their backs walking forward, Su Yaoyang accompanying at the side, and the generals following closely behind.
“Chiefs… this is where our regiment headquarters is located. The left is the infantry battalion garrison, the right is the tank company garrison, and behind are the logistics battalion, vehicle battalion, and hospital.”
Su Yaoyang introduced to Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, and the other generals as they walked.
The group first arrived at the infantry battalion area. Just as they entered the camp, they heard bursts of gunfire—that was the soldiers practicing target shooting.
Hearing the crisp and rapid gunfire, everyone became interested. Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi took the lead to the shooting range.
They saw more than thirty soldiers lying on the ground, holding rifles and shooting at targets a hundred meters away. The crisp and dense gunfire was incessant, making everyone’s expressions change slightly.
