Chapter 39: Problems Galore
Hearing Huang Guantao raise the question, Su Yaoyang replied without thinking: “I know you’re worried, Deputy Regiment Commander Huang, that I’ll swallow up the Military Police Regiment.
How about this: I can give you a promise in front of everyone. If we can break out of Nanjing this time, you can freely take your men and leave. What do you think?”
Seeing that Su Yaoyang had put it this way, what more could Huang Guantao say? He could only give a thumbs up.
“Boss Su is generous!”
At this moment, Su Yaoyang’s position was somewhat embarrassing. Although he, a commoner, had a certificate from Li Gaoyuan appointing him as an instructor of the First Regiment of the Training Corps, this identity wouldn’t hold up under scrutiny and would be exposed immediately.
So Huang Guantao simply called him Boss Su, which avoided the embarrassment and gave him an outward identity.
This was also why Huang Guantao had raised the objection—who made it so he had no officially recognized formal identity?
Having dealt with Huang Guantao, the last obstacle was removed.
Su Yaoyang took out a document and read: “After statistics, we currently have a total of 1,653 combat personnel, including 158 artillerymen and 1,495 infantrymen.
After discussion, it has been decided to reorganize the troops into the New Capital Security Regiment, with Su Yaoyang as regiment commander and Li Gaoyuan and Huang Guantao as deputy regiment commanders.
The New Capital Security Regiment has under its command three infantry battalions and one artillery battalion.
The artillery battalion has two companies, with camp commander Xiong Junfeng also serving as company commander of Artillery Company 1, and company commander of Artillery Company 2 being Zhang Zhihao. Artillery Company 1 has six 107mm heavy mortars under its command, and Artillery Company 2 has six M2 60mm mortars.”
Hearing this, everyone’s expressions remained calm, and no one raised any objections.
Artillery is a highly technical branch; without real skills, one can’t make a foothold in it.
Xiong Junfeng and Zhang Zhihao were from orthodox military academies, so it was perfectly justified for them to hold these two positions.
Su Yaoyang continued reading: “Infantry Battalion 1 camp commander will be concurrently held by Li Gaoyuan, Battalion 2 camp commander by Huang Guantao, and Battalion 3 camp commander by Lu Shaobin.
The infantry battalions total nine companies, with company commanders being Wang Shouxin, Li Qingxiang…”
After finishing reading the document, Su Yaoyang looked up at everyone. “The above is the content of this reorganization. Does anyone have any opinions on this?”
No one spoke, but many still secretly cast their gazes toward Huang Guantao.
Because in this adjustment, the Military Police 2nd Regiment brought by Huang Guantao suffered the greatest losses, with most military police dispersed to other companies. If it were someone with a fiery temper, they might cause a scene on the spot.
Huang Guantao glanced at everyone and said helplessly: “Why are you all looking at me like that? I’m not someone who doesn’t understand the big picture.
The current situation is already this dire; no one knows if they’ll still be alive tomorrow. If we still quarrel over such petty gains, you’re underestimating me too much.”
“Brother Huang is a straightforward man!” Su Yaoyang gave a thumbs up and reached into his pocket to take out a Good Luck cigarette and hand one to him.
After the two lit their cigarettes, Su Yaoyang continued: “Everyone, according to the intelligence we’ve gathered, the Japanese surrounding us now is the 11th Regiment under the Kunizaki Detachment.
This Kunizaki Detachment is no pushover; it’s an elite unit split off from the Japanese 5th Division.
That old fox Kunizaki heard there was a group of female students in the church, so he sent a company to grab them and turn them into military prostitutes in the barracks, but they ran headlong into the brothers from Camp Commander Li Gaoyuan’s training team and the brothers from 112th Division under Camp Commander Lu Shaobin, and got beaten black and blue.
Now they’ve sent the 11th Regiment to reinforce, but unexpectedly we gave them another good beating. I bet the little devils are feeling really frustrated right now?”
“Hahaha…”
Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.
Lu Shaobin laughed and said: “This battle today is the most satisfying one I’ve fought in a while.
I calculated it: today we annihilated at least two or three companies of little devils. The regiment commander of the 11th Regiment must be heartbroken right now?”
“Hahaha…” Lu Shaobin’s words sparked another round of boisterous laughter, and many began animatedly discussing the morning’s battle with their companions.
Seeing everyone’s demeanor, Su Yaoyang nodded inwardly: the troops’ morale is usable.
Although he was now just a half-baked amateur still learning how to command troops in combat, he had at least been a university graduate from a 211 institution before transmigrating, and had read plenty of history books in his spare time, so he naturally understood the principle of boosting morale before a major battle.
“Knock knock knock…” At this moment, Li Gaoyuan nearby tapped the table, and the laughter around abruptly stopped.
“Alright… it’s still meeting time. Save any talk for after the meeting. Now everyone listen to the regiment commander’s instructions.”
The surroundings instantly fell silent, and everyone restrained their smiles and looked toward Su Yaoyang.
Su Yaoyang glanced at Li Gaoyuan; this guy knew how to play up the moment.
He cleared his throat lightly. “As the old saying goes… we should pursue the retreating enemy with our remaining courage and not covet fame like Xiang Yu.
After today’s battle, the Japanese 11th Regiment is surely in chaos and has no attention to spare for us.
Now we have two paths before us: either launch a counterattack while the Japanese are unprepared and thoroughly crush their 11th Regiment, or organize forces to break through to Xiaguan. What do you all think?”
“Hiss…”
Hearing Su Yaoyang’s words, everyone fell into contemplation, and many drew in sharp breaths.
These two paths seemed fine on the surface, but executing them was not so simple.
First, launching a counterattack while the Japanese are off guard is inherently risky.
The reason the morning went so smoothly was because the Japanese were the attackers and they were the defenders, holding advantageous terrain. Relying on firepower and fortifications, they stubbornly blocked the enemy, so achieving such results was only natural.
But once attack and defense are swapped, the situation is completely different. This makeshift force, just barely reorganized, launching an offensive—who knows what the consequences would be.
If the offensive doesn’t go smoothly and the Japanese counterattack in turn, that would be truly disastrous.
Secondly, if they withdrew now, it would also be fraught with difficulties—not to mention the dozens of women and students in the church, just transporting those dozens of wounded would give them a headache.
If they got surrounded by the Japanese midway through the retreat, it would be a case of heaven not responding and earth not heeding their cries.
Even Huang Guantao frowned and said: “If it were just us combat troops withdrawing, it might be manageable, but don’t forget we have dozens of women and wounded.
If we really withdraw, we’ll still need to assign manpower to escort them.
The biggest problem is we have no vehicles; withdrawing by carrying them on backs and shoulders is no different from delivering them straight to the devils’ gun muzzles.”
