Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chapter 642 Shocking! Wang Jinzai Refuses to Obey Orders. (Please Subscribe)
Northern Hubei.

A temporary assembly point set up somewhere in the Fifth War Zone.

They broke off contact with the main force of the Japanese army.

The remnants of the 128th Division, which had been rushing northward, finally gained a brief respite.

Exhausted soldiers collapsed in twos and threes on the muddy ground, panting heavily, completely devoid of their previous energy.

The atmosphere was equally somber inside the makeshift command post.

Division Commander Wang Jinzai paced back and forth, anxious and restless, his tightly furrowed brows almost forming a knot.

His mood, like the gloomy weather outside, was oppressive and suffocating.

A telegram from the Fifth War Zone Command has just arrived.

The contents of the telegram, however, plunged him into an icy abyss, leaving him unable to calm down for a long time.

"After deliberation by the Military Commission, in order to commend the heroic fighting of the Fifth War Zone in the early stage and in order to further carry out the liberation operation, Li Zongren, the commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone, is hereby appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of the North China Joint Command, effective immediately. Li Pinxian will serve as the commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone. Further details will be notified separately."

These few lines of text were like a sharp knife, piercing through Wang Jinzai's last line of defense!
Commander Li is going to be promoted!
The breakout plan, which had just seen a glimmer of hope, was instantly shrouded in a thick shadow again.

You must understand that the reason Wang Jinzai disregarded everything, resolutely abandoned his old stronghold that he had cultivated for many years, and led his remaining troops on a wild northward march.

All they wanted was to join the ranks of this powerful figure in the Guangxi clique and seek refuge.

Now, however, Commander Li has suddenly been transferred away.

This made him feel as if he were a lone boat adrift on the sea, having lost his direction and his support.

Where is he going?
Who can he rely on?

Without understanding these issues, one is like a headless fly.

Inside the command post, several trusted generals, who also looked anxious, gathered around.

"Commander, what exactly is going on?"

"Why was Commander Li suddenly transferred? Didn't we agree that I was going to go and join him?"

"So what should we do next? Is North China really safe?"

"Are the Fifth Theater Command truly reliable nowadays?"

Now, at this critical juncture of life and death, these considerations have become unavoidable issues.

Brigade Commander Cao Yanghui, who was closest to Wang Jinzai, came over and whispered, "Commander, we can no longer trust Chu Yunfei!"
Those Central Army soldiers are all bad news!

Now it seems they were just trying to use us to do their dirty work, hoping to reap the benefits while we fought the Japanese!

This telegram instructing us to discard our heavy weapons and break out to the north is probably a trap he set!

Wang Jinzai raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Perhaps he made some deal with the Guangxi clique, and they're probably waiting for us to walk right into their trap!"

“That makes sense.” Another brigade commander chimed in, “Commander, if you ask me, we shouldn’t believe their story at all.”

Before the fight against the Japanese, what was Chu Yunfei's official rank?

They are worthy of our trust.

With Commander Li gone, the Fifth War Zone has undergone a complete transformation.

For the sake of our own resources, we'd better think of another way!

Fear is highly contagious.

In this time of widespread anxiety, just a tiny spark is enough to ignite all the negative emotions.

As Wang Jinzai listened to the discussions among the generals around him, his doubts grew wildly like weeds.

He has always believed in the truth that "power grows out of the barrel of a gun".

Now he commands tens of thousands of troops, and if managed properly, he can secure a place anywhere.

Since this journey north is full of unknowns and dangers.

Then why not take a gamble and do it yourself?

Where to fire became a problem; we couldn't just stand still.

Wang Jinzai subconsciously scanned the map, but every direction left him feeling trapped.

east?

Earlier, Zhou Ganchen's local guerrilla unit (the "Qin Gong Armed Forces") had fought against Wang Jinzai. Wang's unit ambushed and wiped out one of Zhou's regiments. Zhou Ganchen was shot dead by Wang Jinzai, and more than 30 party members in the unit were buried alive.

Later, he fought against Li Xiannian's New Fourth Army troops on several occasions.

Li Xiannian's troops were lured to Hanchuan County and Tianmen County by Wang Jinzai under the pretext of suppressing bandits.

At that time, the New Fourth Army dispatched the Fourth Regiment of the Henan-Hubei Advance Column, together with more than 600 people from the Hanchuan County National Self-Defense Corps under Xiang Yan's command. Although they successfully broke through the encirclement, more than half of these 600 people were killed or wounded, their strength was severely damaged, and several high-ranking officers were killed in battle.

However, the two sides had previously reached a non-aggression pact, and the New Fourth Army was still conducting infiltration operations. Xiang Yan handed over the remaining 300 men and guns of the eight companies under the jurisdiction of the former Hanchuan County to the New Fourth Army as a gesture of goodwill, which angered Wang Jinzai, leading to this major battle.

Heading east was impossible. Not to mention whether the Japanese army would launch a flanking attack, the New Fourth Army would not let go of this good opportunity to strike them.

west?

Earlier, under Chen Cixiu's orders, Guo Chan, a member of the Jiangfang Army, also reached an agreement with Wang Jinzai to provide him with ammunition supplies.

Guo Chan set up supply zones in counties such as Mianyang, Tianmen Yanli, and Qianjiang to provide Wang Jinzai with weapons, ammunition, clothing, and other necessities.

However, this did not last long, as Wang Jinzai launched a major offensive against Yanli County, which was outside the Han-Mian guerrilla area, and supplies ceased.

This happened in mid-1939.

Prior to this, in early 1939, Jin Yiwu's First Detachment under Zhou Xing launched a fierce attack on Zhou Xing's troops within the territory of Mianyang.

This Zhou Xing is from the Sichuan Army.

The third detachment led by Huang Chao attacked Jin Yiwu in Xiantao Town. Huang Chao was a local of Mianyang and a graduate of the fifth class of the Whampoa Military Academy.

As a graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy, he naturally received preferential treatment from Chang Ruiyuan.

Upon learning the news, he was furious and sent a telegram to Wang Jinzai, angrily rebuking him for attacking friendly forces.

Wang Jinzai replied that he had never hit Jin Yiwu.

Chang Ruiyuan angrily replied: You clearly hit him, the evidence is conclusive, how can you say you didn't hit him!
It is said that Wang Jinzai was furious after seeing the strongly worded telegram and cursed: "The reason I said I didn't fight was to give face to your Shancheng government. Now that you say I did fight, then I did!"
Then Wang Jinzai said fiercely to the telegraph operator, "Send it to me right away, just like I said."

It is said that Chang Ruiyuan was also extremely angry when he saw this telegram, and was thinking of sending several divisions to eliminate Wang Jinzai.

However, because the Fifth and Ninth War Zones were already under immense pressure and struggling to deal with the Japanese invaders, they were unable to engage in combat with Wang Jinzai, who was unrelated to them, and the matter was left unresolved.

If it weren't for the fact that Wang Jinzai was still an anti-Japanese armed force, no one would tolerate him.

southward?

Should we turn our guns around and return to the Japanese encirclement to fight them?
But now the 11th Army has mobilized tens of thousands of troops. Heading south at this time would only be suicide.

It's impossible to go east, west, or south.

That leaves only two paths.

Heading due north, they continued their surprise attack along the predetermined route, pinning their fate on the sympathy of the mountain city government.

Or perhaps they would head northeast into the Dabie Mountains to carve out their own territory.

Everyone remained silent, turning their gazes to Wang Laohu, who sat in the main seat, seemingly waiting for him to make a decision.

To everyone else, this division commander was not just their superior, but more like their master.

Every decision Wang Jinzai makes is closely related to their vital interests.

nowadays.

They had long been bound together, becoming a true community of shared interests.

Even if they wanted to lead their team away from Wang Jinzai, there was no suitable place for them to go.

Just then, a communications officer with a hurried expression entered.

"Sirs, urgent telegram."

After glancing at the contents of the telegram, Wang Jingzai suddenly cursed, "Damn it, Chu Yunfei is a real scoundrel!"

The communications officer was so startled by Wang Jingzai's sudden outburst of rage that he nearly lost his footing. Inside the command post, all the officers' eyes were fixed on the telegram.

Wang Jingzai didn't hide anything. He slammed the telegram onto the map, his chest heaving violently, clearly furious.

The brigade commander, Cao Yanghui, who was closest to him, quickly stepped forward, picked up the telegram, and read it aloud. The telegram, as always, came from the North China Joint Command, and it was obvious whose name it was sent in.

The content appears to be appeasement, but in reality it is full of an unquestionable command tone: "Brother Commander Wang Jinzai: I hereby order your troops not to stay where they are, but to immediately lead your troops northward to retreat and regroup in the Nanyang Basin."

Upon arrival, our joint command will immediately replenish all the heavy equipment lost during this breakout, and promises to conduct a comprehensive reorganization and training of your unit according to the standards of a 'Class B combat unit,' with all provisions, supplies, and weaponry borne by the North China side.”

After the telegram was read, there was a brief, deathly silence in the command post.

This immediately sparked an even more intense commotion!

"Replenish equipment? Reorganize?"

Cao Yanghui was the first to sneer, slamming the telegram back onto the table: "Easier said than done! They're treating us like three-year-olds!"

"That's right!"

Another commander said indignantly, "What kind of Class B unit organization is this!"

"Once we are reorganized, will our 128th Division still be our own unit?"

"When he reorganized other local military units, he simply placed graduates from the Whampoa Military Academy and the Shanxi Military Academy in their ranks. He would send a few staff officers and a few commanders, and in less than three months, the entire unit would be unrecognizable!"

"Think of Zeng Wanzhong, then think of Pang Bingxun, and Wu Tinglin of the 15th Army, and Liu Ruming of the 68th Army."

"These are all cautionary tales, Commander!"

"They're trying to steal our souls, dismantle our bones, and replace them with people from North China!"

"Commander, this is absolutely unacceptable!"

The generals' clamor was like adding fuel to the fire.

This completely ignited Wang Jinzai's already uncontrollable anger.

Who is Wang Jingzai? He is the "Tiger Wang," who holds absolute power in the Jianghan Plain!
He was a fierce general from the Northwest who dared to defy even Chang Ruiyuan!

Now he's being forced to accept handouts from the North China Joint Command like a beggar, and to be treated like a ragtag bunch, undergoing so-called "Class B unit reorganization and training"?
He ruled as a local tyrant in central Hubei for several years, but he couldn't let go of the power he held.

He viewed the successful retirement of Pang Bingxun, Zeng Wanzhong, and others as a complete insult to him!
Scholars can be killed, but not humiliated!

Thinking of this, Wang Jingzai slammed his hand on the table, a fierce light flashing in his ringed eyes!
"Give me the order!"

He gave the telegraph operator beside him a resolute order: "Send a telegram to the General Staff!"

Everyone was startled, wondering what he was going to do.

"Just say it."

Wang Jinzai's voice was resolute and filled with the tragic grandeur of a desperate gamble: "Although our 128th Division has suffered heavy losses, the hearts of all its soldiers in resisting the Japanese invasion and serving the country will remain steadfast until death!"
To contain the enemy directly in front and to support the operations of our allied forces in Central China, our unit is determined to forgo the opportunity to rest and reorganize northwards and launch an attack eastward against the Japanese invaders entrenched in the southern part of the Dabie Mountains. This battle is a fight to the death!

This telegram was written with great righteousness and passionate fervor!
However, everyone present understood the true meaning behind it.

In reality, they were just trying to escape, but they were using the pretext of launching an offensive to submit a "pledge of allegiance" to the mountain city!
Wang Jinzai is not planning to go to North China!

He wanted to head east, intending to stay in the Fifth War Zone and fight his own "guerrilla warfare" in the Guangxi Clique's territory!
Whether Li Pinxian can tolerate him or not is Li Pinxian's business.

In fact, the mountain city authorities were happy to see the various factions fighting each other for territory.

"The commander is wise!"

"Yes! Let's do it ourselves! We won't put up with that scumbag treatment!"

Inside the command center, a chorus of support erupted instantly.

Seeing the excited expressions on everyone's faces, Wang Jinzai felt a little calmer.

He paused, then added, a sly glint in his eyes: "Also, send a copy of this telegram to the North China Joint Command."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was stunned.

Immediately, they all revealed knowing smiles.

They all understood Wang Jinzai's intention.

Although he was arrogant, he wasn't stupid enough to openly break ties with the North China Joint Command.

Although the Sixth and Ninth War Zones could not spare the manpower to strike and annihilate them.

But the North China Joint Command has the spare capacity to do so.

If you provoke them, they're much harder to deal with than the Japanese.

This copied telegram served both as an announcement and as a gesture.

I, Wang Jinzai, am not disobeying the orders of the North China Joint Command.

Rather, for the sake of the "greater good of the Party and the country" and for the "overall situation of the War of Resistance," they took the initiative to choose to tackle even tougher challenges!

You can't stop us from going to fight the Japanese, can you?
Since he can no longer be a local tyrant, and is now a homeless dog, he must accept the reality.

Then naturally, one should find a new place to start over and make a comeback.

If the newly appointed commander of the Fifth War Zone, Li Pinxian, could turn a blind eye to his situation, considering that they were both "miscellaneous" troops, or that his "anti-Japanese war banner" still had some value, and allow him to find a place to breathe in the gaps of the Dabie Mountains, that would be enough.

If it was not tolerated, a ruthless glint flashed in Wang Jingzai's eyes.

That’s okay too!

His main force in the Guangxi clique is currently tied up on the southern front by the Japanese army and is unable to help itself.

The remaining second-line troops might not be a match for Wang Jinzai's battle-hardened remnant army!
Even a rabbit will bite when cornered!

His reputation as "Tiger King" was not just for show; it was earned through countless battles, fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood!
Having made up his mind, Wang Jingzai's fear and unease vanished.

Instead, there was a triumphant sense of control, as if they had taken their destiny back into their own hands: "Brothers, true men are those who can bend and stretch. As long as we get through this difficult period, we will surely rise again!"

Wang Jingzai waved his hand and pointed to the map: "Pass down the order, the entire army turns northeast and advances tonight. Be cautious along the way. Even if you need food, buy it with money. Do not loot. Under no circumstances should the news leak out!"

The group accepted the order and prepared to leave.

At this moment, Wang Jingzai seemed to suddenly remember something: "Right, the meeting has been going on for so long, where is my chief of staff?"

"Yes, where has Brother Dexing gone..."

"Commander, didn't you assign him any tasks before?"

Wang Jinzai also realized that something was wrong; Li Dexing had most likely already "left".

But at this time, maintaining morale is the most important thing.

He cleared his throat and explained, "I just remembered, I sent him to contact the higher-ups to prepare for receiving the equipment, Tiancheng!"

"Have!"

Wu Tiancheng was Wang Jinzai's chief bodyguard, so naturally he was also required to attend the meeting.

Wang Jinzai then instructed, "You and your men will remain where you are and be responsible for covering the rear."

"Yes!"
-
The perspective shifts to the temporary command post.

Chu Yunfei put down the telegram in his hand.

The telegram was sent by the battlefield party and government committee after hearing that Wang Jinzai's troops were going to be transferred to the North China Joint Command's combat order.

He then told Chu Yunfei everything he had seen and heard over the years.

"Wang Jinzai's 128th Division looted and set up checkpoints throughout the battlefield, their presence causing chaos and ferocity wherever they went."

Such a comment is already quite polite.

To put it bluntly, Wang Jinzai had the style and habits of a warlord when he was in central Hubei. He would kill people without reason or on some pretext.

He and Wu Tinglin are cut from the same cloth.

Seeing this, Zhao Pengcheng suggested, "Sir, since we've already given him a chance, and he's determined to leave the group, shouldn't we make preparations in advance?"

Where could Wang Jinzai go?

"This..." Zhao Pengcheng paused for a moment, then said, "If they enter the Guangxi-controlled area, they might very well defect to Commander Li and his men. However, I suspect Commander Li is unlikely to tolerate them. After all, Wang Jinzai's troops are not much different in style from theirs. Two tigers cannot share one mountain, and besides, Wang Jinzai is unlikely to truly obey Commander Li's orders."

"That's right, so a new round of conflict between them is inevitable."

Seeing Chu Yunfei deep in thought, Zhao Pengcheng then asked, "Your Excellency, do you intend to intervene and mediate?"

Chu Yunfei sighed and slowly shook his head: "The General Headquarters gave them a chance, and we gave them a chance too."

"If we don't even cherish ourselves, then we can't care about anything else."

"You must understand that the 11th Army is the most powerful field army in the Japanese Expeditionary Army's China Expeditionary Army, and I need to devote myself fully to the upcoming battles."

(End of this chapter)