Chapter 251: Call For Help
Yichang, Fifth Theater Temporary Command Headquarters.
The atmosphere was as heavy as if it had been filled with lead. A simple but clean pine coffin was quietly placed in the center of the command headquarters, covered with a blue sky, white sun, and full red ground national flag.
Army General First Class, Fifth Theater Commander-in-Chief Li Zongren, dressed in full military uniform, stood straight in front of the coffin.
He did not shed tears, but his bloodshot eyes contained deep sorrow.
He had just personally arranged the remains of his close friend in the coffin, the martyred General Zhang Zizhong.
“Zhenchen, you… go well.” Li Zongren slowly raised his right hand and saluted a standard military salute toward the casket.
A confidential staff officer holding a telegram walked in lightly and said in a low voice: “Commander, Chongqing… the Committee Chairman has personally replied.”
Li Zongren lowered his hand and took the telegram.
The telegram was very short, but every word carried a thousand jun weight. The Committee Chairman ordered that General Zhang Zizhong’s remains must be transported safely to Chongqing at the fastest speed, where the highest specification state funeral would be held.
“Pass on my order!” Li Zongren’s voice was hoarse but firm. “Immediately arrange aircraft! Select the most elite guard unit, spare no cost, and ensure General Zhenchen’s heroic spirit is safely sent back to the capital!”
“Yes!” The staff officer acknowledged the order and left.
The command headquarters had just resumed operation due to this order when another operations staff officer rushed in, drenched in sweat, his face full of anxiety.
“Commander! The battle at Pumpkin Shop is critical!”
Li Zongren turned sharply, his gaze like lightning: “Speak!”
“The Japanese 13th Division and their elite ace—the 3rd Division—have launched fierce attacks on Pumpkin Shop from two directions! They’re mad, the little devils have gone completely mad!”
The operations staff officer pointed to the red arrows on the map, speaking at top speed. “Shanxi… the Shanxi militia’s firepower is powerful, but… but the 33rd Army Group…”
The staff officer’s voice choked. “Commander Zhang martyred, the brothers are leaderless, though everyone is fighting desperately, they are fighting individually, with heavy casualties! They’re about to hold out no longer!”
Li Zongren’s heart felt gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand. The thing he feared most had still happened.
He looked at the area on the map under frantic Japanese attack, where not only were his troops in peril, but also that mysterious and powerful friendly force.
No! The 33rd Army Group absolutely cannot collapse like this! Even more, the friendly force that loyally served the country cannot be trapped due to our own chaos!
A resolute aura erupted from Li Zongren. He smashed his fist on the map, shaking the models on the sand table.
“Send a telegram to the front line!” He commanded the staff officers around him in an unquestionable tone.
“In the name of the Fifth Theater Commander-in-Chief, I formally appoint: 77th Army Commander Feng Zhi’an, effective immediately, to temporarily assume the position of Commander of the Army 33rd Army Group! Order him to immediately rally the troops, integrate command! Coordinate operations with the Shanxi militia!”
“Tell him! Commander Zhang’s body is still warm, if he dares to let the 33rd Army Group’s designation be scattered under his command, bring his head to see me!”
This murderous order acted like a shot of strong heart tonic, instantly dispelling the dejection and chaos in the command headquarters. All staff personnel immediately sprang into action, and the radio’s beeping became urgent and powerful again.
Li Zongren turned his gaze back to the casket, his eyes filled with not only grief but also a steel-like will.
“Zhenchen… watch. Not a single one of your soldiers will I abandon. Your vengeance… we will take!”
…………
Zaoyang, 77th Army Headquarters.
This place was no longer worthy of being called “army headquarters,” more like a temporary field morgue.
The smell of gunpowder and blood mixed together, choking people breathless.
Feng Zhi’an, this army commander who had just been commanding his troops on the front line, was now kneeling on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Commander… Commander!” Upon hearing the bad news of Zhang Zizhong, this iron-hard man cried like a child.
The surrounding staff and guards all bowed their heads in silent mourning, suppressed sobs rising and falling in the simple command post.
At this moment of utter grief, a communications soldier stumbled in and handed a telegram to Feng Zhi’an, his voice trembling: “Army… Army Commander… urgent telegram from Fifth Theater Commander Li!”
Feng Zhi’an forcibly wiped the tears from his face and took the telegram with trembling hands. When he saw the content, he was stunned.
Commander Li Zongren had ordered him to temporarily assume the position of Commander of the 33rd Army Group!
This appointment, at this moment, was no less than a thousand-jin burden smashing heavily onto his shoulders.
He had no time to digest the shock and fear brought by this order before the piercing radio call pulled him back to harsh reality.
“Calling Acting Commander! Calling Acting Commander! This is 55th Army Cao Fulin! Japanese offensive too fierce, my unit is about to be cut in half! Brothers can’t hold! Request instructions on next actions! Request support!”
On the radio, 55th Army Commander Cao Fulin’s voice was hoarse and anxious, full of despair.
Before the words finished, another channel came the roar of 59th Army Commander Huang Weigang: “Brother Feng! It’s me, Huang Weigang!
The little devils’ 3rd Division is like mad dogs! We’re about to be surrounded here! You have to think of something quick! Without reinforcements, we’re all done for today!”
The pleas for aid from the two army commanders hammered like two heavy blows onto Feng Zhi’an’s heart.
This freshly minted “Acting Commander” suddenly felt the world spinning.
Support? With what to support?
He instinctively looked at the force deployment chart on the wall, where the blue flags representing their own troops were sparse and tattered.
The 33rd Army Group, claiming three armies, actually had only five divisions in full count.
After days of bloody fighting, total strength had sharply reduced to less than 40,000, all wounded, short of ammunition. Every position was barely holding, and he didn’t have even a reserve battalion to spare!
Feng Zhi’an’s fists clenched with creaking sounds, nails digging deep into flesh. An unprecedented sense of powerlessness and humiliation surged. Was his first act upon taking office to watch his comrades-in-arms be devoured one by one by the Japanese?
Just as he was burning with anxiety and at a loss, a young staff officer beside him mustered courage and suggested softly: “Sir, this subordinate… has a suggestion, not sure if I should say it.”
“Spit it out!” Feng Zhi’an was in a rage and bellowed impatiently.
The staff officer shrank his neck from the roar but still braced himself: “Can we… ask that Shanxi militia for aid?
Their firepower… you’ve seen it with your own eyes. If they hit from the flank, the pressure on 55th Army and 59th Army would definitely lighten greatly!”
Ask a militia for aid?
Feng Zhi’an was stunned.
As a senior officer of the National Army regular forces, asking a local militia for help was unthinkable before.
This was not just a matter of face, but of military system and dignity.
His face flushed then paled, inner pride clashing fiercely with cruel reality.
But closing his eyes, his mind filled with Cao Fulin and Huang Weigang’s anxious desperate roars, countless soldiers falling in artillery fire, Commander Zhang Zizhong’s unclosed eyes…
To hell with face!
Compared to brothers’ lives, his personal face meant nothing!
“Good!”
Feng Zhi’an slammed the table, resolved, and ordered the communications soldier in a near-roar:
“Immediately! Connect me to Shanxi Militia Commander Su Yaoyang’s radio! In my name! Request them, for the sake of fellow anti-Japanese soldiers, to pull brothers through!”
“Tell him, if he sends troops, I Feng Zhi’an owe him a huge favor!”
Feng Zhi’an’s telegram was not long, but the anxiety, helplessness, and desperate heroism between the lines leaped off the page, making Su Yaoyang’s brows furrow slightly.
He handed the telegram to his adjutant, his gaze returning to the distant battlefield rumbling with cannon fire.
Pumpkin Shop had now become a massive meat grinder.
His troops were locked in deadly entanglement with the Japanese 13th Division.
Though relying on weapons far superior to this era, the militia soldiers held absolute firepower advantage, but the Japanese fearless mad charges still brought huge pressure to the defenses.
Support Feng Zhi’an?
A helpless bitter smile flashed in Su Yaoyang’s mind. He didn’t even dare move the reserve battalion he held, where was spare force to mind others’ business?
But he couldn’t ignore it.
He understood the principle of lips and teeth cold better than anyone.
Once 55th Army and 59th Army’s lines were torn open by Japanese, his Pumpkin Shop area would instantly turn from a salient to a deathtrap surrounded on three sides.
Then, forget eating the Japanese 13th Division; not being surrounded himself would be lucky.
Feng Zhi’an, this new Acting Commander, though somewhat forced into it awkwardly, could set aside National Army senior officer pride to ask his “militia” for aid, showing he was someone who understood the big picture.
For such a person, if he could help, he should.
Ground troops definitely couldn’t be spared, but… he had another force.
An idea quickly formed in Su Yaoyang’s mind.
He turned and gave clear, decisive orders to the communications staff officer beside him.
“Send to Cheng Rufeng: have him take off immediately, provide air support to 55th Army and 59th Army, tell him the 33rd Army Group absolutely cannot collapse.”
“Yes!”
After issuing the order, Su Yaoyang had the communications soldier reply to Feng Zhi’an with a telegram.
The telegram was simple: “Commander Feng, ground fighting tight, unable to divide forces.
Have ordered our air force to fully support your two wings. That’s all we can do. The rest, each to their fate.”
Done with this, Su Yaoyang raised his binoculars again.
He had done his best. In this chess game, he had played his most critical piece. Whether Feng Zhi’an could seize the opportunity, stabilize, even counterattack coordinating with his air strike, was beyond his control.
War sometimes fights not just strength, but a bit of that ethereal… heaven’s will.
And now, what he needed to do was focus on dealing with these equally mad enemies before him.
