Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 102: It's our turn to take the stage.

What Chi Fengcheng didn't know was that when he hung up the phone, Sun Lianzhong turned around and found Li Zongren, who had come to inspect his command post.

"Commander Li, the 31st Division has been stationed in Taierzhuang for a week. Last night I sent a regiment to reinforce the village, but when it withdrew this morning, only a dozen men remained. However, there is still no news of reinforcements."

Sun Lianzhong walked up to Li Zongren and pleaded, "Commander Li, please, for the sake of us brothers, let us retreat to the south bank of the canal and leave some seeds for our Second Army Group. All of us brothers will be eternally grateful for your great kindness!"

Li Zongren held a pencil in his hand and pondered for a while. He looked up at him and said softly, "Brother Fanglu, if we withdraw from the position now, wouldn't the blood of the fallen soldiers have been shed in vain?"

After saying that, he threw down the pencil in his hand, "Use all the reserves and make sure we hold out until dawn the day after tomorrow."

Sun Lianzhong plopped down in a chair and said irritably, "With the battle at this stage, where are the reserves?"

Looking at Sun Lianzhong's bulging eye bags and tired expression from days of hard work, Li Zongren thought for a moment, then reached for the phone on the table. "Hello... Nanjing Security Regiment? Have your commander answer the phone."

"Mingxi, come to the Second Army Headquarters immediately. Commander Sun and I are waiting for you here."

When he hung up the phone, he was met with Sun Lianzhong's curious gaze.

"Commander Li, are you planning to send that Nanjing Security Regiment to reinforce Zhuangnei?"

"Ah."

Li Zongren nodded: "I originally planned to save this force for the counter-offensive, but now it seems I have no choice but to send them out ahead of schedule."

Sun Lianzhong hesitated and said, "Commander Li, although this unit has been hyped up by the newspapers these days, nobody knows if they can actually fight. I don't know if it will be okay for you to send them to the village."

Li Zongren smiled slightly: "Whether it works or not is not up to us to decide. Let the Japanese judge for themselves."

Time passed quickly as the two talked.

More than an hour later, a loud voice rang out at the door.

"Reporting... Su Yaoyang, commander of the Nanjing Security Regiment, has come to report for duty as ordered!"

"come in."

As the sound rang out, a young officer in a German-style military uniform, wearing the rank of colonel, strode in and snapped to attention, saluting the two men: "Good morning, Commander Li! Good morning, Commander Sun!"

"Mingxi...you're here."

Upon seeing Su Yaoyang, Li Zongren slowly stood up and solemnly said, "Mingxi... The Japanese 10th Division is currently launching a fierce attack on Taierzhuang, and many positions within the village have been lost. Chi Fengcheng has been leading the 31st Division in a bitter battle for seven days."

But now their division has suffered heavy losses, so I've decided to order you to lead your troops to replace the 31st Division in defending Zhuangnei. Are you confident?"

Without hesitation, Su Yaoyang shouted, "Don't worry, sir. I can't guarantee anything else, but I can assure you of one thing: as long as we are here, we will hold the position. As long as our security regiment is not wiped out, Taierzhuang will never fall!"

"it is good!"

Li Zongren threw down the pencil in his hand, his face full of satisfaction. "I hope you keep your word. When you return in triumph, Commander Sun and I will personally toast you!"

Su Yaoyang shouted, "I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

"Come here." Li Zongren beckoned and pointed to the map on the table. "Let me test you. How do you plan to deploy your troops?"

Su Yaoyang had already discussed this issue with several deputy regimental commanders and battalion commanders in the past two days. Upon hearing this, he stepped forward without hesitation, picked up a wooden stick from the table, and pointed it to the center:
"This is Taierzhuang, but its core area is only about 2 square kilometers. The area inside the city walls is limited, the streets are narrow, and the houses are densely packed. According to intelligence, only one-fifth of the area is still in our hands, and the rest has been occupied by the Japanese army. So sending too many troops in now would only make them sitting ducks for the Japanese artillery."

Therefore, I plan to first send three infantry battalions across the canal pontoon bridge at night to take over the 31st Division's defenses, and then deploy the artillery battalion and anti-aircraft battalion south of the canal.

Meanwhile, the engineering company was ordered to build another steel pontoon bridge over the canal overnight, and it had to be completed before 5 a.m.

After setting up the equipment, the tank company advanced to the south bank of the canal under cover of night. At dawn the next day, they launched a full-scale counter-offensive against the Japanese army, recapturing all of Taierzhuang in one fell swoop!

After hearing Su Yaoyang's words, even Li Zongren and Sun Lianzhong, who had spent half their lives in the military, still looked at him with some surprise.

In fact, Li Zongren and Sun Lianzhong had fought battles for half their lives, and they had fought all kinds of fierce and dangerous battles. To be honest, they didn't take a battle of this regimental scale seriously.

What shocked them was not only the extravagant wealth Su Yaoyang revealed, but also his do-or-die courage.

In their view, Su Yaoyang must have exhausted his family fortune and efforts to build such a team, yet he dared to go all in without batting an eye. Such courage and audacity are not something that ordinary people would dare to do.

After a long silence, Li Zongren took a deep breath: "Mingxi... this is a huge gamble for you. If you lose, all the team you've painstakingly built up by spending all your wealth will be gone."

"Hahaha……"

Su Yaoyang laughed, "Commander Li, what are you saying? The country comes first, then the family. If the country is gone, what use is my little family? Are you going to leave our family assets to the Japanese?"
Now, our Chinese nation has reached its final juncture. If we don't even have the courage to fight the Japanese invaders to the bitter end, wouldn't I have lived in vain!

"Good!" Sun Lianzhong slammed his hand on the table. "Just for those words, I, Sun Lianzhong, respect you as a true man."

When you return victorious, Commander Li and I will personally toast you!

"Hahaha... It's a deal! The department is waiting for this drink between you and Commander Li!"

"A word is settled!"

…………

When Su Yaoyang left the command post and returned to the outskirts of the security regiment, it was already evening. He immediately summoned all officers of battalion level and above and announced the mission to them.

After he finished speaking, he looked around at everyone and said, "Everyone has heard the mission. Now I want to hear who is willing to be among the first troops to enter the village?"

"Sir, I'm going..."

"Let's go, battalion!"

As soon as he finished speaking, all the battalion commanders stood up.

Fifth Battalion Commander Liang Zefeng spoke first: "Regimental Commander, the fighting these days has been done by the Fourth and First Battalions. Our Fifth Battalion is almost rusty. If it's time for a rotation, shouldn't it be our turn?"

"You're talking nonsense... It's our Sixth Battalion that's in charge, when did it become your Fifth Battalion's turn?" Sixth Battalion Commander Hou Tianyou retorted on the spot.

"Stop arguing... When it comes to combat strength, our First Battalion is the strongest, okay? We definitely deserve a share of the spoils this time we enter the village," Li Gaoyuan retorted, not to be outdone.

The crowd started arguing, each offering their own opinion...

(End of this chapter)