Chapter 258: Determination
After Chen Shijie left, satisfied yet heartbroken, with that initially agreed-upon arms purchase intention worth up to ten million US dollars, the operations room of the Fifth War Zone headquarters fell into a strange silence.
Su Yaoyang and Li Zongren looked at each other, both of their eyes filled with the same undisguisable shock and confusion.
After a long while, it was Li Zongren, the Guangxi clique boss who had seen all kinds of storms, who first broke the silence. He slowly sat back in his chair, picked up the already cold tea and took a sip, as if needing this to calm his overly agitated mood.
“Mingxi…” Li Zongren’s voice sounded a bit dry,
“No one expected that group of miserly iron roosters from the Military Political Department would actually be willing to fork over real gold and silver, and precious US dollars at that, to buy your cannons.”
His face was full of the words “I’ve lived long enough to see this.”
As an “old friend” who had dealt with that person in Chongqing for half a lifetime, Li Zongren knew better than anyone how dire the Nationalist Government’s financial situation was.
He stretched out his finger and unconsciously tapped on the table, his brows tightly furrowed, deep in thought.
“If I remember correctly, last year, which was the twenty-eighth year of the Republic, the entire Nationalist Government’s annual fiscal revenue, converted to US dollars, was just over forty million.
Yet fiscal expenditures were fully twice the revenue, reaching eighty million! The gap in between was filled entirely by loans and printing fiat currency.”
Li Zongren looked up at Su Yaoyang, the confusion in his eyes deepening.
“Now, they want to shell out ten million US dollars all at once to buy your cannons… This isn’t a small sum; it’s a quarter of the government’s annual fiscal revenue. Have they gone mad?
Where does the money come from? Can they even continue living like this?”
This series of questions was also the doubt in Su Yaoyang’s heart.
Although he didn’t understand this era’s economic situation as thoroughly as Li Zongren, he knew this was absolutely a massive sum that would hurt the Nationalist Government deeply, and the Chongqing side couldn’t possibly not understand that.
The two pondered for a long time, running through all possibilities in their minds. American new loans? Impossible, no word of such a large sum arriving. Selling national assets? Even more impossible, that would cause a huge political storm.
Even Li Zongren, this big shot who had navigated officialdom for decades, couldn’t figure out the reason behind it.
Finally, he let out a long sigh and gave what sounded like the most absurd, yet seemingly the only reasonable explanation.
“Unless…” Li Zongren’s expression became strange, “the Chairman… got provoked.”
“Got provoked?” Su Yaoyang repeated the phrase.
“Yes.”
Li Zongren nodded, his gaze becoming complicated.
“Think about it: his Central Army, equipped with German and Soviet weapons, keeps losing on the battlefield. Yet your ‘off-the-books’ Shanxi militia, with American equipment he’s never even seen, is chasing the Japanese ace division.
Especially your artillery and air force, which make his proud direct lineage troops look utterly useless.”
“This time he sent Chen Shijie, planning to get something for nothing, but you pushed back, making him lose face completely. In the end, to get heavy cannons that can match the Japanese, he had to humbly fork over real gold and silver to buy from you, his ‘subordinate’…”
Li Zongren said this and couldn’t help shaking his head, chuckling: “One thing after another, for someone as extremely arrogant and face-obsessed as him, the provocation is too great.
So, he’d rather smash the pot and sell the iron to get a batch of equipment that can surpass yours, to save face. This is no longer rational military procurement; it’s purely him holding a grudge!”
Hearing Li Zongren’s analysis, Su Yaoyang suddenly understood, then felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.
So, behind this astronomically priced arms deal was actually the top leader’s petty squabble after being mentally broken.
This reason was outrageous, but combined with his understanding of that historical figure’s personality, it seemed utterly real.
For Li Zongren’s speculation about the top leader’s slightly “grudge-holding” motive, Su Yaoyang quite agreed.
He slapped his thigh, a sincere smile on his face: “No matter what the Chairman’s purpose is, he did well this time! The little devils have already occupied most of our China; at this point, shouldn’t the money be used to buy weapons instead of saving it to pay reparations to the Japanese later?
I’ll put it this way: as soon as the money arrives, I’ll immediately have the equipment sent over to them!”
“Hahaha… This is the Su Mingxi I know!”
Hearing this, Li Zongren burst out laughing, his eyes full of relief. He hadn’t misjudged; this kid was sly sometimes, but on major issues of right and wrong, he knew what mattered and was a hot-blooded man.
However, the slight absurdity in the headquarters brought by this unexpected arms deal was soon replaced by the increasingly tense war clouds outside the window.
After laughing, Li Zongren’s expression turned serious again. He pointed to the huge military map on the wall, where the red arrows representing the Japanese army were like a sharp knife stabbing straight at Yichang’s heart.
“Let’s talk business.”
Li Zongren’s tone grew heavy, “The vanguard of the Japanese Sixth Division has already arrived. I hear this time, they’re specifically coming to settle scores with you, Regiment Commander Su.”
Though he said this with a smile, there was no trace of amusement in his eyes.
“Tch…”
Hearing this, Su Yaoyang curled his lips in a disdainful cold sneer, exuding strong confidence, “So what about the Sixth Division?
Three years ago in Nanjing, I could make them piss their pants and flee; this time, I can make them cry and roll back home too! Commander Li, just give the order, and have our Shanxi militia hold Yichang. I guarantee the Sixth Division won’t return!”
These bold words rang out powerfully, full of infectious force.
However, Li Zongren was not swayed by his heroic spirit. He just looked at him calmly and countered: “But what if the Japanese bring the entire Eleventh Army?”
“This…” Su Yaoyang’s heroic ambitions were instantly choked by this one sentence.
He was immediately speechless.
He indeed had the strength to deal with the Sixth Division now, but the entire Eleventh Army was the most powerful strategic mobile corps in the Japanese China Expeditionary Army, with nearly 200,000 troops, equipped with a large number of heavy artillery, tanks, and aircraft.
If Sonobe and Ichiro really went mad and threw the entire Eleventh Army at them regardless of cost, his Shanxi militia, no matter how well-equipped, absolutely couldn’t hold.
In a head-on fight, the best outcome would be mutual destruction, not worth it.
Seeing Su Yaoyang silent, Li Zongren knew he had figured out the key point.
Only then did he slowly stand up, walk to the map, and lightly tap Yichang’s position with the pointer, then draw a westward retreat route.
“So, my plan is…” Li Zongren’s voice grew low, “Abandon Yichang; all units will provide alternating cover for an orderly retreat.”
This decision was especially difficult for him as the war zone commander.
Giving up an important strategic city was undoubtedly hard.
But as the highest commander of the war zone, Li Zongren had to consider the big picture; preserving strength was the best strategy.
He looked at Su Yaoyang, waiting for his reaction.
Because he knew the plan’s success largely depended on Su Yaoyang’s support.
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away from Yichang in Baiyang County, it had been requisitioned by the Japanese Sixth Division as their temporary division headquarters.
Inside the headquarters, the air was oppressively stifling.
Tension permeated every corner.
Over a dozen Japanese mid- and high-level officers stood ramrod straight, even breathing lightly on purpose, their gazes all cast reverently and nervously toward the man in the center of the room.
Machijiri Ryoki, Army Lieutenant General, the newly appointed Sixth Division commander.
He stared motionlessly at the 1:100,000-scale map spread on the table before him. On the map, Yichang’s position was circled ferociously in thick red pen.
His eyes, as if sucked into that red circle, were bloodshot with a near-pathological fanaticism.
The surrounding officers didn’t dare breathe.
Because they all knew that man, the one nailed to the pillar of shame by the entire Sixth Division and even the entire Imperial Army, was inside that red circle.
Su Yaoyang!
This name was the Sixth Division’s eternal nightmare.
Three years ago in Nanjing, the once arrogant “Kumamoto Fierce Tigers” Sixth Division was gassed by this man, suffering over half losses and forced to return home for reorganization.
The division commander was even relieved of duty, with countless Imperial warriors’ bones paving the land outside Nanjing city. That was the greatest humiliation this unit had never suffered since its founding.
Though Machijiri Ryoki was the new division commander, what he took over was not just the command sword, but this heavy shame that could crush anyone.
Since taking office, what he heard most every day were legends about that man; what he saw most were the horrific casualty reports from the Nanjing battle.
That man had become a demon in the Sixth Division’s heart, a fate that must be severed by his own hand.
Three years later, they were to clash again.
Facing this nemesis, the entire Sixth Division from commander to ordinary soldiers was filled with a complex mix of fear, hatred, and a touch of morbid excitement. No one dared take it lightly.
An operations staff officer carefully held a cup of hot tea, wanting to approach, but stopped after one step by the icy killing aura emanating from Machijiri Ryoki.
Machijiri Ryoki didn’t turn around; he just slowly raised his hand and heavily pressed his white-gloved index finger on the red circle on the map, his knuckles whitening from the force.
His voice was hoarse and low, squeezed from deep in his throat, echoing in the silent headquarters.
“He’s there… that Nanjing ghost is in Yichang.”
He slowly turned around, his hawk-like sharp gaze sweeping over every officer present.
“Gentlemen… this time, I will personally twist off his head!”
He said it word by word, his tone full of unquestionable determination and mad killing intent, “The glory of the Kumamoto Division must be cleansed anew with his blood!”
“Hai!”
In the headquarters, all the officers snapped to attention and roared in unison, their eyes flashing with fanatic light.
