Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 82 Sit firmly on the Diaoyutai

"What I think is not important; what matters is your choice."

Su Yaoyang looked into Huang Guantao's eyes and said seriously, "I told you before that you were here to help. Once this is over, the officers and soldiers of the former military police regiment, including you, will have completed their mission."

"You can all decide for yourselves whether to stay or leave. You can rejoin the team, or you can stay. I will accept either option."

Seeing Su Yaoyang's solemn expression, Huang Guantao sighed softly and said with some annoyance, "I knew you would say that."

Su Yaoyang laughed: "You already know, why are you asking?"

“You…” Li Gaoyuan, who was standing to the side, couldn’t stand it anymore. “Commander… Old Huang has already said so much, can’t you give him a way out?”

Su Yaoyang laughed heartily; he knew perfectly well what Li Gaoyuan meant.

After these days of fighting side by side, the soldiers, who were used to hardship, were quite unaccustomed to Su Yaoyang's extravagant spending.

Whether it was the elite weaponry, the abundant ammunition supply, or the lavish meals that could be described as those of a "nouveau riche," everything was shocking to everyone's worldview.

Take food for example. These days, whether it's ordinary people or the Central Army and other irregular troops, who doesn't eat a mixture of two or even three kinds of noodles with wild vegetables? Who in their right family eats sorghum rice with meat every meal?

Not to mention they would also give out cookies, candy, and even cigarettes from time to time. Even a landlord wouldn't dare to be so extravagant.

After getting used to the fine bran that Su Yaoyang provides, it's no wonder they're having trouble adapting to eating coarse grains again.

We're both soldiers, we both fight the Japanese invaders, so why don't I find a wealthy and powerful boss instead of eating chaff and wild vegetables with you? Isn't that crazy?

Seeing Huang Guantao's face turn slightly red, Su Yaoyang couldn't help but chuckle and extended his right hand to him: "Okay, okay, it's my fault."

"Old Huang, I'm formally inviting you to join my newly formed security regiment and serve as its deputy commander. Would you be willing to accept this offer?"

Seeing Su Yaoyang extend his hand, Huang Guantao laughed and shook hands with both of them. "Since the regimental commander has already said this much, it would be ungrateful of me to refuse."

Alright... I'm willing to serve you like a dog.

"Hahaha……"

The three looked at each other and burst into laughter.

After laughing, Li Gaoyuan took out a map from his leather bag and placed it on the stone table: "Commander, Lao Huang... now we should discuss some serious matters."

Su Yaoyang looked down and saw that it was actually a map of the administrative regions of the Republic of China.

After unfolding the map, Li Gaoyuan said to the two men, "Commander, Lao Huang, now that we've fought our way out of Nanjing, we should start thinking about the survival of our team."

As of now, most of Hebei, Chahar, Suiyuan, Shanxi and other places have fallen. After occupying Beiping and Tianjin, the Japanese army advanced along the Pinghan, Jinpu and Pingsui railways.

Our province of JS has also become a key target of the Japanese army. If we want to survive, we must find a place to settle down. What are your thoughts on this?

Huang Guantao said bluntly, "We know our own situation best. I think I'm passable when it comes to fighting and training troops, but this kind of meticulous work that concerns the life and death of thousands of people in the entire regiment is not my forte. So you can decide on this matter."

Li Gaoyuan looked at Su Yaoyang: "Regimental Commander, you are the commander of the regiment, so this matter still needs to be handled by you."

"I..." Su Yaoyang scratched the back of his head helplessly, secretly troubled.

In his original plan, he just wanted to find a way out of Nanjing, and then take Xiao Lu, and at most the young woman with delicate eyebrows who looked like Pengpeng's mother, Manager Song, to a safe place, marry a few beautiful wives, live a peaceful life until the victory of the War of Resistance, and then spend the rest of his life there.

But somehow, he ended up becoming the leader of a group, and unwittingly became the provider of food and clothing for thousands of people. This was something he had never expected.

Seeing that both of them were looking at him, Su Yaoyang said helplessly, "To be honest, you've asked the wrong person. I don't even know what to do next."

"No..." Huang Guantao said anxiously, "Commander...you are the backbone of everyone, haven't you considered this kind of thing?"

"I'm not even thinking about it."

Su Yaoyang said irritably, "A week ago, I was just a poor student who had fled from Rehe. All I was thinking about was how to survive with my little girl at home."

Li Gaoyuan and Huang Guantao rolled their eyes at the same time.

You're kidding me. Poor student... Have you ever seen a poor student who could produce so much American weaponry without even blinking an eye, including tanks, trucks, and mortars?
I'd rather believe I'm the Jade Emperor than believe you're a poor student.

The two of them didn't say anything, just stared at him, giving him the impression that he could keep making things up.

"I... fine... believe it or not is up to you." Seeing the two of them looking at him with eyes that said, "You're not very smart, don't try to fool me," Su Yaoyang finally gave up on explaining.

Think what you want, I don't care anymore.

Finally, unable to resist the gazes of the two men, Su Yaoyang could only helplessly say, "I think it's too early to think about these things now; our dangerous situation is not over yet."

The reason we are still safe for the time being is because the Japanese were stunned by our poison gas attack. They are too busy treating the wounded to deal with us.

In just a day or two, once the Japanese realize what's happening, I guarantee that old bastard Prince Asaka Yasuhiko will frantically mobilize his troops to deal with us.

So let's not think about where to stay now; getting out of here as soon as possible is the best course of action.

"Where to?" Li Gaoyuan asked succinctly.

"Go here!" Su Yaoyang took out a confidential map of the Nanjing area from his hand and pointed to a place.

"Cihu Town... We'll find a boat here to cross the river and then head to Pukou. After all, Xu Yuanquan's Second Army Corps is stationed here. We can meet up with them, rest there for a while, and then make further plans."

Seeing that the two remained silent, lost in thought, he added, "Furthermore, and most importantly, we are currently just a self-proclaimed, unorganized unit, without any official designation or structure. This is extremely detrimental to our future development... Therefore..."

Upon hearing this, Huang Guantao and Li Gaoyuan immediately understood:

"So... the regimental commander plans to be like Jiang Ziya, sitting calmly on the fishing platform, waiting for Chongqing to offer its terms?"

"clever……"

"Hahaha……"

(End of this chapter)