Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 38 Reorganization
"Come on... one for each person, no one can take more than that."

Inside the church, which had been bombed and had a large hole in it, soldiers who had fought fiercely all morning and military police who had just arrived as reinforcements were lining up to receive their meals.

Although Su Yaoyang possessed the cheat code of the material converter, he was well-versed in the art of low-key development and did not provide his soldiers with lavish meals. Therefore, the soldiers' rations consisted of only a bowl of sorghum rice, two steamed buns, a serving of Spam luncheon meat, and a vegetable stew for each person.

For Su Yaoyang, who grew up in an environment of abundant resources, this meal was quite simple. However, to his surprise, the soldiers never stopped smiling after receiving their food, praising its abundance while eating heartily.

Upon witnessing this scene, Su Yaoyang quietly approached Lu Shaobin and asked him a question.

"Company Commander Lu... what do you think of our food?"

"Of course it's excellent."

While eating heartily, Lu Shaobin mumbled, "I've been in the army for seven or eight years. In the past, apart from when I went out for a treat after receiving my pay, I could count the number of days I had meat on my fingers, let alone when we were fighting."

"And sir, you even gave cigarettes to the brothers. Such treatment is unprecedented in the entire Nationalist army."

Su Yaoyang continued, "If I tell the brothers that they will have the same meals from now on, and that their monthly pay will be paid in full, and that they will follow me, would you and the brothers agree?"

"Absolutely!" In his excitement, Lu Shaobin blurted out his hometown dialect again.

"Just for the food you provide, sir, my brothers and I are definitely going to follow you."

"What about the military police? Do you think they'll follow me too?"

Hearing this, Lu Shaobin hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "I don't know about this department. Those military police are all very arrogant, so it's really hard to say."

Su Yaoyang nodded slowly; Lu Shaobin's words made sense.

These military police were all Chiang Kai-shek's elite troops; it was unrealistic to expect them to fight for him with just a few boxes of luncheon meat.

However, Su Yaoyang was not discouraged. He believed that once these people got used to his slow, sweet persuasion, they would willingly follow him.

Of course, it's possible that some people with firm resolve who were wholeheartedly committed to following Chiang Kai-shek might leave, but their departure would actually be a good thing for him, as it indirectly purified the ranks and would only benefit him.

After lunch and changing the uniforms of the newly arrived military police, Su Yaoyang gathered Li Gaoyuan, Lu Shaobin, Huang Guantao, Zhang Zhihao, and Xiong Junfeng together.

Sunlight streamed into the church through the large hole that had been blown up, creating an interplay of light and shadow.

The towering vaulted ceiling has now collapsed in one corner, and dust floats in the air.

In the northwest corner of the church, a long table was placed in front of everyone. Its surface was covered with a thin layer of dust, but the faded tablecloth could still be vaguely seen. A row of benches was placed around the long table.

"Everyone, take a seat."

Su Yaoyang took the seat at the very top of the long table first.

After Su Yaoyang sat down, everyone else followed suit.

Sitting in the main seat, Su Yaoyang observed everyone's actions and noticed something interesting.

Even though it was wartime and everyone was a hastily assembled group, everyone was able to find their seats accurately. For example, Li Gaoyuan and Huang Guantao, who had the highest ranks, sat on either side of him, while Lu Shaobin, Xiong Junfeng, and Zhang Zhihao sat next to him. The rest were Wang Shouxin, Li Qingxiang, Xu Dapeng, and a few other temporarily appointed lieutenant-level officers.

After everyone was seated, Su Yaoyang said, "Gentlemen, I called you here for no other reason than to make some adjustments to the personnel of our team."

At this point, everyone's expression turned serious.

Throughout world history, perhaps no other country's people have been more interested in becoming officials than the Chinese. This can be seen in the small things that Chinese people do, such as how they greet each other, where they walk, and even the order in which they read their names.

"As you can all see, our team currently has a lot of people."

There were units from all over the country, including the 103rd Division, the Training Corps, the Military Police, the 41st Division, and the 103rd Division. They gathered almost half of the garrison in Nanjing.

We are all soldiers, and we all know what the consequences would be if so many people with different unit numbers were gathered in such a small team.

Now I plan to reorganize all the troops, I'm sure everyone agrees?

After a long silence, Li Gaoyuan spoke first: "Commander Su is right. Right now, the Japanese are pressing in with their troops, and we are all trapped in this small church."

"To fight our way out alive, we need to unite everyone as one. I personally support Commander Su's suggestion."

After Li Gaoyuan finished speaking, Lu Shaobin agreed, saying, "Commander Li is right, I support him."

Seeing the two men express their opinions, the others had no objections and expressed their agreement. In the end, only Huang Guantao, the deputy commander of the 2nd Military Police Regiment, remained silent.

Although Su Yaoyang's expression remained normal, it would be a lie to say that he wasn't nervous.

Huang Guantao can be considered the most powerful person besides him and Li Gaoyuan. After all, he currently commands more than 700 soldiers of the 2nd Military Police Regiment. Once he clearly expresses his opposition, this reorganization will be meaningless.

He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, gave one to Li Gaoyuan and one to Huang Guantao, and then threw the pack on the table.

"Come on... everyone, have a smoke and relax."

Almost every soldier smokes, and when Su Yaoyang offered cigarettes, everyone relaxed and accepted them, filling the large church with smoke.

Huang Guantao took the cigarette, and Li Gaoyuan, who was standing next to him, took out a lighter and lit it for him. He casually said, "Old Huang, you are the deputy commander of the 2nd Military Police Regiment, and one of the highest-ranking officers among us. You might as well speak your mind."

Huang Guantao exhaled a long puff of smoke before saying, "Logically speaking, when the country is in crisis, we soldiers should be wholeheartedly devoted to serving the country and should not quarrel over some petty gains. However, I still have some doubts that I would like to clarify beforehand."

Li Gaoyuan and Su Yaoyang exchanged a glance, then said seriously, "Brother Huang, please speak."

Huang Guantao asked, "I was only here to support you on the orders of Deputy Commander Xiao, but I have only been here a short time and you want to reorganize my troops."

"If we manage to break out of Nanjing someday, how am I supposed to explain this to Commander Xiao?"

Li Gaoyuan fell silent. Was Huang Guantao's statement reasonable? Of course it was. Huang Guantao had kindly brought troops to reinforce them, but Li Gaoyuan wanted to reorganize his troops. That just didn't make sense.

“That’s easy,” Su Yaoyang said at this moment.

(End of this chapter)