Chapter 197: Secretly Lamenting
Wuhan Headquarters
The Chairman was frowning at a huge military map before him.
At this moment, his headquarters was brightly lit, and the surrounding walls were covered with huge military maps, marked with crisscrossing front lines and dense military symbols in red and blue pencils.
At this time, the Chairman was wearing a neat yellow felt military uniform, but his brow carried deep fatigue and unconcealable anxiety.
He had not had a good rest for many days. The battle situation in Wuhan was at its most critical moment. The Japanese offensive was escalating, and the national army’s elite troops had suffered heavy casualties in response to the Japanese attacks, with the defense line in a precarious state.
A military officer from the attache office respectfully handed a translated telegram to Chiang Kai-shek and said in a low voice, “Sir, this is an urgent telegram from Commander Yan of the Second War Zone, reporting a great victory in the Wolf Valley area of Shanxi. The main force of the Japanese 20th Division was annihilated, and their divisional commander, Lieutenant General Ushijima Sanetsune, was captured alive.”
The Chairman took the telegram and initially only glanced at it, but when the words “Japanese Divisional Commander Ushijima Sanetsune captured alive” caught his eye, his pupils suddenly contracted.
“Slap!” The Chairman slammed the telegram onto the table with a loud bang, startling the surrounding staff officers and generals into silence.
“Damn it… you are incompetent, and Yan Xishan is shameless!”
His anger erupted instantly. He suddenly stood up and pointed at Chen Cheng, He Yingqin, and other high-ranking generals of the National Army responsible for the defense of Wuhan, and rebuked them sternly:
“Look! All of you, look! Yan Laoxi, in a poor and desolate place like Shanxi, with insufficient troops and supplies, could achieve such a victory and capture a serving Japanese divisional commander alive!
What about you? You have the most elite troops of the party-state, the best weapons and equipment, yet here in Wuhan, in this strategically important transportation hub of nine provinces, you are being pushed back by the Japanese! You can’t even organize a decent counterattack! Don’t you feel ashamed? What is the party-state keeping you for?!”
He Yingqin, then Minister of Military Affairs, was singled out and berated by the Chairman, his face flushing and paling, and he dared not speak, lowering his head.
Chen Cheng, as the Chief of Staff, also had a solemn expression, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. The other generals dared not even breathe, and the atmosphere in the entire command room was extremely oppressive.
The Chairman’s chest heaved violently, clearly very angry.
His severe criticism of these loyal Huangpu clique generals was partly due to the unfavorable situation in Wuhan, and partly because Yan Xishan’s victory report came too “timely” and too “blinding”! It was simply a slap in the face to his Central Army!
After venting his anger at his subordinates, the Chairman’s fury turned to Yan Xishan. He picked up the telegram and sneered, “Hmph! Yan Laoxi, that old fox! After such a victory, he’s getting too big for his britches! And he specifically sent an urgent telegram to the Central government to report his victory? I think he wants to claim credit from the Central government, demand money, food, and territory. How utterly shameless!”
In the Chairman’s view, Yan Xishan’s action, beyond reporting the victory, had a deeper meaning of demonstrating his strength and indispensability in Shanxi.
Especially after the Central Army’s successive defeats on the front lines, Yan Xishan’s “great gift” undoubtedly made Chiang Kai-shek feel disgraced and even more resentful.
Seeing their boss so angry, Chen Cheng stepped forward and said loudly, “Sir… I have some different views on this matter.”
“Oh… what else is there?” The Chairman looked at him intently.
Chen Cheng said coldly, “Sir, please understand, it’s not that I look down on Yan Baichuan.
At the time, Itagaki Seishiro, with only half a division, broke through half of Shanxi. Over a hundred thousand Shanxi–Chahar–Hebei Army soldiers scattered like rats, and eventually abandoned the vast territory of Shanxi to the Japanese, leading tens of thousands of remnants to flee to Kenanpo.
To put it bluntly, the Japanese would have been overjoyed if they didn’t have to fight Yan Baichuan, so how could they have the courage to attack the Japanese, and even severely damage the 20th Division and capture its commander? If there’s no trickery involved, I’m willing to dig out my eyes and let him step on them!”
“Eh… that’s right…”
After Chen Cheng’s statement, the Chairman and those around him also realized.
Believing that Yan Xishan truly had this ability would be less credible than Emperor Hirohito suddenly announcing unconditional surrender.
Finally, after everyone picked up the telegram and studied it again, they finally discovered the anomaly.
The Chairman couldn’t help but curse, “This Yan Laoxi… it was clearly the merit of Su Yaoyang and the Shanxi militia, yet he shamelessly claimed all the credit for himself! Utterly shameless!”
However, as he cursed, his voice lowered. Yan Xishan, as the commander of the Second War Zone, was nominally in command of Su Yaoyang and the Shanxi militia. Strictly speaking, his actions could not be said to be entirely wrong.
This made things somewhat awkward.
“Damn it!” The Chairman muttered a curse. This was his usual expletive when he was angry.
He knew that regardless of Yan Xishan’s intentions in sending this telegram, the victory itself was a great boost to the morale of the entire nation’s resistance. He could not openly belittle it; in fact, he had to commend it. However, his inner displeasure and vigilance towards local power factions were very real.
After a long while, the Chairman seemed to have finally calmed down somewhat.
He stopped, swept his gaze over the assembled generals, his voice still stern but with an unquestionable command tone, “The Central government will commend the Second War Zone. However! We cannot continue to be passively beaten on the Wuhan battlefield!”
He waved his hand abruptly, pointing to the strategic points on the map of Wuhan, “Ci Xiu… Jing Zhi, you must unite in spirit, redeploy, and at all costs, achieve a brilliant victory in Wuhan!
Let the people of the whole country know that our Central Army is the pillar of the War of Resistance! We are the true fighting force that can fight tough battles and win! Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir!” Chen Cheng, He Yingqin, and others responded in unison. Their voices were loud on the surface, but inwardly, they were suffering.
