Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 39 is riddled with problems.
Upon hearing Huang Guantao's question, Su Yaoyang replied without hesitation, "I know Deputy Commander Huang is worried that I will take over the Military Police Corps."

"Alright, I can make you a promise in front of everyone: if we manage to break out of Nanjing this time, you are free to leave with your people. What do you say?"

Seeing that Su Yaoyang had put it this way, what else could Huang Guantao say but give him a thumbs up?

"Mr. Su is so generous!"

At this moment, Su Yaoyang's position was somewhat awkward. Although he came from an ordinary background and had a certificate issued by Li Gaoyuan proving that he was an instructor in the First Regiment of the Training Corps, this identity could not withstand scrutiny and would be exposed as soon as it was investigated.

So Huang Guantao simply called him Boss Su, which avoided awkwardness and gave him a public identity.

This is why Huang Guantao raised objections; after all, he doesn't have an officially recognized status.

With Huang Guantao dealt with, the last obstacle was removed.

Su Yaoyang took out a document and read aloud: "According to statistics, we currently have a total of 1,653 combat personnel, including 158 artillerymen and 1,495 infantrymen."

After discussion, it was decided to reorganize the troops into the newly formed Capital Security Regiment, with Su Yaoyang as the regimental commander and Li Gaoyuan and Huang Guantao as deputy regimental commanders.

The newly formed hand-to-hand combat formation comprises three infantry battalions and one artillery battalion.

The artillery battalion consisted of two companies. Xiong Junfeng served as the battalion commander and concurrently as the company commander of the 1st Artillery Company, while Zhang Zhihao served as the company commander of the 2nd Artillery Company. The 1st Artillery Company comprised six 107mm heavy mortars, and the 2nd Artillery Company comprised six M2 60mm mortars.

Hearing this, everyone remained calm, and no one raised any objections.

Artillery is a highly technical branch of the military; without real skills, one cannot gain a foothold in it.

Xiong Junfeng and Zhang Zhihao are both formally trained professionals, making their appointments to these two positions perfectly legitimate.

Su Yaoyang continued reading: "Li Gaoyuan will concurrently serve as the battalion commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion, Huang Guantao will concurrently serve as the battalion commander of the 2nd Infantry Battalion, and Lu Shaobin will serve as the battalion commander of the 3rd Infantry Battalion."

The infantry battalion consists of nine companies, commanded by Wang Shouxin and Li Qingxiang respectively…

After reading the document aloud, Su Yaoyang looked up at everyone and said, "This concludes the content of this reorganization. Does anyone have any opinions on it?"

No one spoke, but many people still secretly glanced at Huang Guantao.

Because of this reorganization, the 2nd Military Police Regiment led by Huang Guantao suffered the greatest losses. Most of the military police were scattered and assigned to other companies. If it were a hot-tempered person, they probably would have made a scene on the spot.

Huang Guantao glanced at everyone and said helplessly, "Why are you all looking at me like that? I, Huang Guantao, am not someone who doesn't understand the bigger picture."

The situation has deteriorated to this point; nobody knows if they'll be alive tomorrow. If you're still arguing over such petty gains, you're underestimating me.

"Brother Huang is a generous man!" Su Yaoyang gave him a thumbs up, reached into his pocket, took out a Lucky Charm cigarette, and handed it to him.

After the two men lit their cigarettes, Su Yaoyang continued, "Gentlemen, according to the intelligence we've gathered, the Japanese soldiers surrounding us are the 11th Regiment under the Kunisaki Detachment."

This Kunisaki Detachment was no ordinary unit; it was an elite force detached from the Japanese 5th Division.

Guo Qideng, that old bastard, heard that there was a group of female students in the church, so he sent a company to try to kidnap these female students and turn them into military prostitutes. However, he ran into the brothers of Battalion Commander Li Gaoyuan's training team and the brothers of the 112th Division under Battalion Commander Lu Shaobin, and was beaten black and blue.

Now they've sent the 11th Regiment as reinforcements, but they've been soundly defeated by us again. I bet those Japanese are feeling pretty frustrated right now, aren't they?

"Hahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

Lu Shaobin laughed as he said, "Today's battle was the most enjoyable one I've fought in recent days."

I did the math; we wiped out at least two or three companies of Japanese soldiers today. The commander of the 11th Regiment must be heartbroken right now, right?

"Hahaha..." Lu Shaobin's words caused another burst of laughter, and many people began to discuss the situation of the battle that morning with their companions with great enthusiasm.

Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, Su Yaoyang nodded inwardly, thinking to himself that the morale of the troops was high.

Although he is currently a novice who has only recently entered the field and is still learning how to command troops in battle, he was a college graduate from a 211 university before he transmigrated. He had read a lot of history books and naturally understood the importance of boosting morale when a major battle was imminent.

"Tap tap tap..." At this moment, Li Gaoyuan patted the table, and the laughter around him stopped abruptly.

"Alright... it's still meeting time. We can talk about anything else after the meeting. Now listen to the commander's instructions."

The surroundings fell silent instantly, and everyone stopped smiling and looked at Su Yaoyang.

Su Yaoyang glanced at Li Gaoyuan; this guy knew how to flatter.

He coughed lightly. "As the old saying goes... one should press on with the remaining strength to eliminate the enemy, rather than seeking fame like Xiang Yu."

After today's battle, the Japanese 11th Regiment must be in complete disarray and have no time to attend to us.

We now face two paths: either launch a counterattack while the Japanese are off guard and completely crush the 11th Regiment, or organize a breakout to Xiaguan. What are your thoughts?

"hiss……"

After hearing Su Yaoyang's words, everyone fell into deep thought, and many people gasped.

Both paths seem good on the surface, but they are not so simple to implement.

First of all, launching a counterattack while the Japanese army was unprepared was a risky move in itself.

The reason the battle went so smoothly this morning was because the Japanese were the attackers and we were the defenders. Occupying advantageous terrain, we tenaciously resisted the enemy with firepower and fortifications, so it was only natural that we achieved such results.

But once the offensive and defensive roles are reversed, the situation will be completely different. Once this hastily assembled force, which has just completed its initial reorganization, launches an attack, no one can guarantee what the consequences will be.

If the attack goes poorly and the Japanese army takes advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack, that would be terrible.

Secondly, retreating now would be fraught with difficulties. Not to mention the dozens of women and students inside the church, just figuring out how to transfer those dozens of wounded would be a major headache for them.

If they were surrounded by the Japanese army during the retreat, they would be completely helpless.

Even Huang Guantao frowned and said, "If it were just our combat troops retreating, that would be fine, but don't forget we also have dozens of women and wounded."

If we really have to retreat, we'll have to arrange for a group of people to escort them.

The biggest problem was that we had no means of transportation. Trying to evacuate by carrying them on our backs and shoulders was tantamount to sending them straight into the enemy's guns.

(End of this chapter)