Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 47 Encirclement and Suppression
"is that true?"

Su Yaoyang stared into his eyes, then slowly pulled a small yellow croaker from his pocket… followed by a second… and a third…

"Of course... I... I... I can't possibly go against my principles... Damn it... Alright... For God's sake... oh no... for the sake of the women in the church... I agree to help."

John's dramatic shift from resolute determination to hesitation, and finally to gleaming submission, all within a mere five seconds, profoundly illustrates humanity's insatiable love for money.

After quickly putting the small yellow croaker that Su Yaoyang handed him into his pocket, John asked, "Colonel... oh... boss, do you want me to drive your car or your tank?"

If it's the latter, then this price isn't enough.

Looking at the foreigner who looked like he was reaching for money from his coffin, Su Yaoyang shook his head helplessly. He hadn't seen this guy love money this much in the original story. How come he turned into this when he met him?

He asked with great interest, "If it's the latter, how much do I need to pay you?"

John first held up five fingers, then extended his other palm: "Five... no... ten of these gold bars!"

"Hey..." Su Yaoyang almost laughed out of anger. This guy was planning to kill him.

He said bluntly, "John, if I may be so bold, I could hire ten retired soldiers who can drive tanks from your country for the price of ten gold bars. Why would I need to hire you?"

John chuckled: "But you said it yourself, they're all in America, and I'm your only option right now... isn't that right?"

"Hey……"

Su Yaoyang suddenly had the urge to pull out a gun and kill this guy, but after thinking it over, he gave up the idea.

Fine... If you want people to work for you, then don't be stingy with the money.

Anyway, I can cash in on this thing anytime, so why should I care?

He immediately nodded: "Alright, I can agree, but remember, once you join us, there's no going back. If you dare to desert on the battlefield, I'll enforce battlefield discipline!"

"Don't worry, I've served in the military too." John was overjoyed to see that Su Yaoyang had agreed to his terms.

He secretly calculated in his mind that a dozen or so gold bars would be enough for him to buy a small farm and twenty or thirty cattle and sheep when he returned to the United States.

In this way, my future is secure.

However, he immediately asked with some doubt, "Boss, as far as I know, tanks are very precious to your country. Could it be that you can even get your hands on tanks?"

"You don't need to worry about that." Su Yaoyang waved his hand, signaling the superfluous guy to shut up.

"You wait here for now. What you need to do now is to select four members and teach them how to operate the tank in the shortest possible time. You don't want to be driving a tank alone in battle, do you?"

"Oh damn... This is simply an impossible task. I can't possibly get a few people who've never even seen a tank to operate that thing in such a short time. It's unrealistic!"
Besides, I haven't even seen a glimpse of a tank yet, how am I supposed to do anything?

“That’s your problem.” Su Yaoyang grabbed his collar, stared at him coldly, and said, “I’ve already paid enough. All you have to do is complete the task I’ve assigned you.” With that, Su Yaoyang turned around and strode out the door.

He then walked out of the church and went to a nearby abandoned courtyard. After fiddling with it for a while, a brand-new tank appeared in the courtyard, accompanied by a faint blue light.

Five pairs of road wheels, a 75mm tank gun, a low-profile gun barrel, and three machine guns (two at the front and one at the rear) all indicate that this is a tank with considerable firepower.

In fact, this is a tank that will not appear for several years in another time and space. It is the M24 Chaffee tank, named after the father of the American armored forces.

The advantage of this tank is that it can well balance firepower and mobility, while the disadvantage is that its armor is somewhat thin and it is easily damaged on the front line.

However, Su Yaoyang didn't think much of the latter. It was just a disposable item anyway. As long as it could strengthen their firepower in the next battle and cover the main force's escape from Nanjing, that would be enough.

After carefully checking the tank's ammunition, fuel, and other conditions, Su Yaoyang returned to the church and brought John to the small courtyard.

When John saw the tank parked in the yard, his mouth dropped open so wide it could almost fit a duck egg. "My God... you really got a tank! What... what model of tank is this? I don't think I've ever seen one before."

"That's not important. What you need to do now is familiarize yourself with its performance as quickly as possible and get it running. Here's the instruction manual." Su Yaoyang tossed a copy of the manual to John and returned to the church.

He knew very well that as the remaining resistance forces in Nanjing were wiped out by the Japanese army, their isolated army would inevitably attract more and more attention from the Japanese army, and more and more Japanese troops would flock to them.

Time was too precious for him to waste any extra time.

"boom……"

As the saying goes, what you fear most is what will happen to you.

He had just returned to the church and found Li Gaoyuan and Huang Guantao, but before he could even speak, he heard a muffled explosion in the distance.

Then a soldier rushed in to report, "Sirs, something bad has happened... Many more Japanese soldiers have arrived and have already engaged our outposts."

"Sir, the observation post reports that Japanese cavalry have appeared behind us, their numbers unknown."

Faced with the sudden appearance of the enemy, all three felt immense pressure, as if a raging torrent was crashing down on them from all directions.

Huang Guantao said with a wry smile, "The Japanese devils don't give us a chance to catch our breath at all."

Li Gaoyuan pondered for a moment, "I estimate that it will probably be the Kunisaki Detachment again this time. You know, we just killed their deputy detachment commander and the 11th Regiment commander."

After speaking, he looked at Su Yaoyang, who was standing to the side.

Su Yaoyang ignored Li Gaoyuan's gaze and frowned, pondering, "I reckon the commotion here has already attracted the attention of the Japanese high command, after all, we just wiped out one of their regiments."

"That old devil Kunisaki will never let us go, so I reckon that even if we repel the Kunisaki Detachment's attack, the Japanese will send in even more troops to encircle and annihilate us."

(End of this chapter)