Chapter 229: Shedding Blood In Unyielding Resistance
“Zhou Wenhua? Zhou Wenhua from Shanghai? So it turns out that the person who has been donating quite a lot of supplies and money to us all along is him, and now he has donated so much ammunition and firearms to us all at once. This is truly rare and precious! Although I don’t know how he transported so much ammunition and equipment here without anyone knowing, I still have to thank him properly!”
When all the division commanders and chief of staff arrived in front of Li Jiajun, the person in charge of the transportation team dispatched by Zhou Wenhua, and saw the dazzling array of rifles and ammunition, as well as light and heavy machine guns and mortars, they were immediately shocked again, their eyes wide open and mouths agape, staring in a daze as if they had been frozen in place,
with expressions of incredulity all over their faces. These were people who had been poor for several years and had never seen so many weapons and equipment and ammunition piled up in front of them all at once,
and moreover, they were donated for them to use to resist Japanese invaders,
but after a moment of shocked stupor,
Division Commander Liu of the 129th Division was the first to gratefully say to Zhou Wenhua.
“Yes! We owe this Boss Zhou so many favors, we must thank him properly, and also find a way to repay him for this important favor in the future!”
“Now that we have so much fine equipment, we can quickly form a powerfully combative troop to counter the Japanese Army’s elite troops. Even without fighting guerrilla warfare or ambush warfare, using this batch of weapons and equipment and ammunition, we can engage in head-on combat with an elite regiment of Japanese invaders!”
“As long as they don’t deploy Japanese aircraft groups, heavy artillery groups, and tank groups for offensive operations, we absolutely won’t lose to them by much!”
“What’s more, if we fight guerrilla warfare and ambush warfare, then these Japanese troops will even less be our opponents!”
And they also warmly received the members of these transportation teams dispatched by Zhou Wenhua together with the others.
Especially chatting with Li Jiajun, the person in charge dispatched by Zhou Wenhua,
wanting to learn more details about Zhou Wenhua from the other party, as well as recent matters of him continuously using all sorts of connections to donate supplies and money to these future Eighth Route Army troops.
The more they learned about Zhou Wenhua secretly taking care of them,
the more grateful they became for Zhou Wenhua’s kindness.
They also learned that the merchants who had been donating to them all along had not told them that the person donating behind the scenes was Zhou Wenhua.
It could be said that this time Zhou Wenhua had the person in charge of the transportation team, Li Jiajun, reveal the truth, letting these division commanders and chief of staff know that the person who had been donating supplies and money to them for several years was himself.
Because the operations to resist Japanese invaders had now erupted, in order to have more exchanges and communications in the future with these Eighth Route Army troops on operations to resist Japanese invaders and support operations,
Zhou Wenhua had to reveal the truth to them first: that he was friendly, their best partner, and a friend on the same front in resisting Japanese invaders.
Just as these division commanders and chief of staff were shocked beyond measure by the weapons and equipment and ammunition donated by Zhou Wenhua this time, turning to repeated delight,
on the Tianjin side,
the atmosphere of an impending major battle was also brewing,
where the citizens here were either nervously apprehensive about the arrival of the Japanese Army’s invasion, or trying to find ways to leave, or closely following the subsequent battle situation on the Beiping side and the Japanese Army’s latest offensive operation routes,
of course there were also National Revolutionary Army troops stationed there, some wanting to evacuate, some wanting to hold fast here and continue fighting.
In short, the whole city’s military and civilians were in all sorts of states of mind,
with all kinds of mental expressions present.
The weather was hot and stuffy, a restless, even worried and fearful pre-battle atmosphere quickly permeating the streets and alleys of Tianjin, seeping into the hearts of the citizens.
Meanwhile, Deputy Division Commander Li Wentian of the 38th Division stationed in Tianjin had already made up his mind,
to jointly issue with the Tianjin Security Team a declaration of determination to resist to the death,
and send telegrams nationwide: “Japanese invaders are transporting troops daily and have captured Beiping City. We vow to stand or fall with TJ City, to fight to the death, unswervingly…”
As soon as the telegram was sent,
it immediately made most of the workers, patriotic students, and citizens in Tianjin City enthusiastic, rushing to offer condolences to these patriotic soldiers vowing to resist to the end.
Even many citizens and patriotic students mobilized a large number of vehicles across the city to help the 38th Division transport ammunition, weapons and equipment, and troops,
even the Chinese constables in the Italian concession actively removed the barricades at intersections, allowing the vehicles transporting ammunition and supplies to the 38th Division to pass smoothly and head to the front lines for deployment to resist the incoming Japanese invaders.
For a moment, the entire Tianjin City was enveloped in a complex atmosphere mixing tension and anxiety on the eve of operations to resist Japanese invaders, as well as the bustling, enthusiastic combat deployment for resisting Japanese invaders.
