Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 63 The Final Showdown (Thirteen)
The snow stopped

Su Yaoyang's watch stopped at 3:37 a.m. After more than an hour of fighting, the Third Battalion finally defeated the Japanese army at Zhongshan Wharf.

When the Third Battalion and the prisoners of war who had stormed the dock met up, John's Chaffee tanks were chasing the Japanese garrison.

On the dock, a biting wind blew, and the river water lapped against the shore with a low, rumbling sound. A dark sky enveloped the entire dock.

On the dock, a group of ragged prisoners of war shivered in the cold wind. Their faces were haggard and their expressions were dazed. Some of them even broke down in tears, their grief and fear intertwined.

Many huddled together, hoping to find warmth in each other. In this bleak and cold environment, every breath felt heavy and difficult. The prisoners' eyes revealed despair and helplessness, a stark contrast to the dark atmosphere around them.

A burly officer wearing the rank of major walked out of the crowd and stood in front of Su Yaoyang. Although he was soaking wet and wearing only a thin shirt, he still looked at Su Yaoyang with a questioning gaze.

After scrutinizing him for a moment, he asked in an uncertain tone, "Li Tao, battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion, 128th Regiment, 172nd Brigade, 51st Division, may I ask which unit you belong to?"

Su Yaoyang glanced at the lieutenant colonel, then swept his gaze across the crowd, and announced loudly, "We are from the Nanjing Garrison Regiment. I am Su Yaoyang, the regimental commander, and we are currently stationed at St. Paul's Cathedral."

Having received intelligence that the newly appointed Prince Asaka Yasuhiko of the Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Army had ordered the execution of all prisoners of war, and unable to bear seeing his fellow Chinese being slaughtered by the Japanese, he risked everything to bring his men here to see if they could rescue some. Unexpectedly, they succeeded.

"Nanjing Garrison?"

Upon hearing this, Li Tao frowned slightly. "Please forgive my ignorance, I have never heard of this unit before."

"Of course you haven't heard of it, because it's a temporary organization that was only established two days ago and hasn't been approved by the garrison command yet."

"This……"

Li Tao looked at Su Yaoyang with a bewildered expression. "Are you serious?"

Su Yaoyang ignored him and said calmly, "Alright, we don't have time for idle chatter. You have two choices now. First, take advantage of the fact that the Japanese troops haven't arrived yet and go to Xiaguan Wharf immediately to cross the river with the main force. Second, you can come with us. Choose for yourselves."

After saying that, Su Yaoyang turned around and shouted, "Lu Shaobin, clean up the battlefield and treat the wounded immediately. Leave here in ten minutes!"

"Yes!"

By this time, some prisoners had already picked up weapons from the bodies of Japanese soldiers and began to spontaneously gather around some officers.

Su Yaoyang, who witnessed all of this, did not stop it, but simply watched it all with a cold eye.

After a while, a captain stepped forward and said loudly, "Commander Su, you saved my life. If you don't mind, I, Ren Quanyou, will sell you this hundred or so jin of meat!"

"Yes, Commander Su...we are willing to go with you!"

As soon as the captain made his statement, many soldiers immediately started shouting.

"it is good……"

Su Yaoyang nodded, pointed behind him with his right hand, and said loudly, "Brothers who are willing to come with me, please stand behind me. Brothers who are not willing to come with me, I will not force you. I wish you a safe journey."

Mountains may be high and rivers may be long, but we'll meet again!

The prisoners began to murmur amongst themselves, with many starting to discuss the matter in hushed tones.

"Brother, are you planning to go to Xiaguan Wharf or follow this Commander Su?"

"I don't want to fight anymore, I want to go home."

"What about you?"

“Anyway, we’re all soldiers and get paid, so it doesn’t matter who we follow. I plan to go with Commander Su.” “That’s what I think too.”

The prisoners discussed among themselves, but soon took action. More and more people stood behind Su Yaoyang. In less than ten minutes, all of the thousands of prisoners had made their choice, and standing in front of Su Yaoyang was the battalion commander named Li Tao from before.

He saluted Su Yaoyang and said apologetically, "Commander Su, I'm really sorry, but my brothers and I still want to go back to our original unit. We can only repay your life-saving grace another day."

“You don’t need to feel embarrassed.” Su Yaoyang waved his hand. “Although I saved you, I have no obligation to require you to come with me.”

Besides, where isn't it to fight the Japanese devils? Anyone fighting the Japanese devils is one of my brothers, Su's brothers!

"Yes...we're all like-minded brothers!"

"Alright, it's getting late, let's say goodbye here."

After saying this, the two bowed and said goodbye.

It was easy to come, but it wasn't so easy to leave.

Su Yaoyang rescued about 5,000 prisoners of war, but only about 2,000 were willing to follow him. These people were cold and hungry, and many of them were injured, making it difficult for them to walk. This gave Su Yaoyang a lot of headaches.

To ensure that he could bring these prisoners of war back, he even moved the reconnaissance outposts several miles ahead.

Perhaps God took pity on these prisoners of war who had suffered so much, for they finally returned to St. Paul's Cathedral safely.

St. Paul's Church

The little girl rushed over and found Song Mei: "Sister Mei... Young Master just sent word that he has successfully rescued the prisoners of war from the POW camp and is now leading more than two thousand prisoners of war on his way back. They will arrive in about an hour."

He asked me to inquire whether we had prepared warm clothing, blankets, and other winter supplies, as well as rice porridge.

Song Mei pointed to the dozen or so large pots steaming outside the courtyard and said, "I understand. The ginger soup and rice porridge have been prepared. As for the cotton clothes and quilts for keeping warm, they are placed in the courtyards behind the church."

"Okay!" the little girl agreed and was about to leave when Song Mei called her back.

"Xiao Lu... wait a moment."

"What's wrong, Sister Mei?" The little girl turned around and looked at Song Mei.

"Xiao Lu, what exactly did your young master do before?"

"What... Sister Mei, why are you asking that?" Xiao Lu didn't react for a moment, looking puzzled.

“Take a look at these things for yourself.” Song Mei pointed to the large pots steaming in the yard. “Your young master told me yesterday evening that he wanted me to organize people to make ginger soup.”

They also brought over 500 jin of ginger, brown sugar, and so much rice and beef. I just want to know where they got all this from?

Song Mei stared intently at the little girl, hoping to glean something from her face.

"I don't know either?" The little girl scratched her head, unsure how to answer.

"You... never mind..." Seeing the bewildered little girl, Song Mei helplessly pinched her delicate nose. She knew she shouldn't have asked.

This girl has nothing but her young master in her heart. I bet even if Su Yaoyang sold her now, she would happily count the money and hand it over to her young master.

(End of this chapter)