Chapter 67: The Chairman’s Reaction
At 12:00 noon on December 16, 1937 AD, Xu Huansheng, the radio receiver in the Shanghai International Settlement’s radio station, was fiddling with the radio as usual when he suddenly received a plaintext telegram:
“This is Nanjing Xiaguan… Japanese troops are using ship cannons to slaughter tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians… Request all ships along the Yangtze River for rescue… Any frequency response will become a witness for the civilized world…”
At the same time, not only Xu Huansheng received this plaintext telegram, but all the International Settlement and embassies of various countries in China also received it.
“Fuck… beasts… robbers… a bunch of robbers!”
Chongqing Zengjiayan Official Residence
A voice thick with a Fenghua accent was roaring in the office.
“Massacre… they are massacring, this is a massacre that violates international law!”
Chiang Committee Chairman, who hadn’t slept well for several days, with dark circles under his eyes, was roaring at the group of high officials in front of him.
“Japanese are brutal… Tang Mengxiao（ Tang Shengzhi） is stupid and incompetent, you are all a bunch of trash just like him!”
Chiang Committee Chairman’s saliva almost flew onto the faces of Chen Cheng, He Yingqin and others standing in front of the desk, but they remained expressionless and respectfully stood, not even daring to wipe it.
“Do you know that the Japanese are openly slaughtering our people and prisoners of war in Nanjing, do you know what kind of damage this will do to our international image?
How will the United States, Britain, and a bunch of European countries view us? In this way, how can we expect them to support us?”
Everyone looked at each other, realizing that the Chairman was not angry about the slaughter of the people, but afraid that the allied countries would think he was too incompetent and thus no longer support him.
The office fell silent for a moment. Seeing that no one was speaking, Chiang Committee Chairman became even angrier and slammed the table, “Fuck… the Japanese are bullying us too much… Tang Mengxiao fled before the battle, none of them are good people.”
At this point, Chiang Committee Chairman’s teeth itched. Seeing his face turn iron-blue at the mere mention of Tang Shengzhi, everyone could understand.
This guy shouted before the war that he would live and die with Nanjing, but he himself didn’t have much ability, adopted a passive defense strategy, and the defense arrangements were full of loopholes, allowing the Japanese to concentrate superior forces and defeat them one by one.
He also confiscated all ferries at the crossings to show his determination to break the cauldrons and sink the boats, but he didn’t think that once defeated, all the soldiers and civilians in Nanjing would pay the price for his decision.
When the Japanese army entered Nanjing, he himself took the pre-reserved ferry, patted his butt and fled Nanjing first, leaving behind the entire city’s people and soldiers.
As soon as he left, the Nanjing defense line immediately collapsed across the board, and his departure also intensified the soldiers’ chaos and despair. It can be said that he bore at least half the responsibility for Nanjing’s catastrophe.
No wonder Chiang Committee Chairman itched with hatred at the mere mention of him.
Seeing that everyone was still silent, Chiang Committee Chairman angrily said: “Why isn’t anyone speaking? Zixiu, Jingzhi, aren’t you usually eloquent? How did you all become mute?”
Chen Cheng smiled bitterly: “Chairman, it’s not that we don’t want to speak, but talking about these is meaningless now. What we need to do now is how to quickly restore our international image, that’s the most important thing.”
“Hmm… well said.” Chen Cheng lived up to being the Chairman’s most trusted subordinate; one sentence hit his heart, and his originally iron-blue face softened.
He thought for a moment and said to Chen Cheng: “Zixiu, how is Nanjing now?”
Chen Cheng sighed lightly: “It’s a horrific sight. According to telegrams from escaped routed soldiers and some radios of murdered journalists and officers, the Japanese are actually holding a killing contest in the city to see who kills the most. Nanjing now is like hell!”
“Bang!”
Chiang Committee Chairman’s eyes widened in fury, and he angrily rebuked: “Bullying us too much!”
“Indeed bullying us too much, but what can we do?” He Yingqin also advised: “Our national strength is inferior, what can we do about it.”
“Do you have any way to teach the Japanese a lesson?” The Chairman’s chest heaved continuously as he scanned the crowd and asked.
“This…” Chen Cheng and He Yingqin both showed troubled expressions; what could they do at the moment.
“Principal.” At this time, Dai Li, who had been silent since entering, spoke up, “This student has heard a piece of news, not sure if it’s true or false.”
“Speak quickly.” The Chairman glared at him.
Dai Li stepped forward, bowed, and said: “This student just received intelligence this morning. In current Nanjing, there is still a unit resisting, and it has inflicted considerable casualties on the Japanese army.
It even killed Deputy Captain Hasegawa of the Kunizaki Detachment and Major Nagano Yuichiro of the 11th Regiment, so even Detachment Leader Kunizaki Sadao was dismissed.”
Dai Li lived up to being the Chairman’s favored intelligence chief, the director of the Military Investigation and Statistics Bureau. In just a few days, he had investigated everything Su Yaoyang had done clearly.
“Oh… there’s such a thing?”
The Chairman was first startled upon hearing this, then overjoyed.
“Tell me quickly, which unit is it? What’s the commander’s name, which Whampoa class is he from? I want to heavily reward him!”
Dai Li thought for a moment, “The commander of that unit is surnamed Su, called Su Yaoyang. He is not a Whampoa graduate, not even a soldier, but a young man who fled to Nanjing.
By a stroke of luck, he gathered a team, occupied a church, and fought the Japanese.”
“What… a young man.”
Upon hearing this, not only the Chairman, but even Chen Cheng and He Yingqin were greatly shocked. No one expected that the one who had badly embarrassed the Japanese was a young man who had never attended a military academy.
Once they reacted, their faces inevitably looked a bit ugly.
Everything fears comparison.
In the Nanjing Defense Battle, over 100,000 Chinese troops failed to kill even one Japanese major-level officer, yet this fledgling young man Su Yaoyang did it. Wasn’t this slapping their faces?
Seeing the Chairman’s subtle expression, Dai Li added: “Principal… no need to be upset. Actually, in this student’s view, that Su Yaoyang just got lucky.
The reason he achieved this was largely thanks to one person’s help, and that person is an instructor from the Cadre Training Regiment.”
“Cadre Training Regiment?”
The Chairman immediately perked up upon hearing this.
The Cadre Training Regiment was the elite of the elites in the direct lineage; all officers inside were elites selected from Whampoa Military Academy graduates, one could say they were all his students.
“That person is called Li Gaoyuan, an instructor of the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment of the Cadre Training Regiment.
For some reason, this man voluntarily became Su Yaoyang’s deputy. The two together formed something called the Nanjing New Security Regiment in Nanjing, causing quite a stir.”
The Military Statistics Bureau was powerful, but not omnipotent; some things were hard to know without the parties involved saying.
“Oh…” The Chairman stroked his chin and closed his eyes in thought, not knowing what he was thinking.
