Canteen System Assistance Notes

But if that were the case, then the Nationalist troops I had previously led could only be considered bandits and rogue troops in the mountains. After all, it was these "second-tier" Japanese troops that defeated the Nationalist troops and sent them fleeing in all directions.

They are all Chinese gays, why are they so different?

"I guess this is the difference between the Red Army and the White Army? The Communist Army in the north is the Red Army, while the Chiang Kai-shek Army in the south is the White Army: the Red Army soldiers are the strongest, so what's so strange about that?"

Little Ilic said that this clever guy got a small bottle of medical alcohol from somewhere, maybe he hid it in the dictionary? Anyway, he got it. During the breaks on the battlefield, each person in our artillery team was given 50 ml of 75-proof "liquor".

By comparison, wouldn't our British and American allies be on the same level as Chiang Kai-shek's bandit army? They were being chased all over Southeast Asia by the Japanese—the British in Singapore weren't any match for them, nor were the Americans in the Philippines; even General MacArthur was nearly captured!"

In the joyful atmosphere, the men who were hiding secretly started to joke about their allies. Everyone said "for health" and "for victory".

Toasts like "For the friendship between China and the Soviet Union" were used to drink this little bit of wine that could only moisten the lips.

He drank the essence.

There was no music or singing, nor any expensive snacks. Once the wine was drunk, everyone put away their cups and returned to their night shifts or bunks. The war must go on, both for our Chinese comrades and for us.

-…-…--

Stepan Vsevolodovich Tsvetkov

Chapter 630: Journey in Northern China

(Update)

Many years later, when Harrison Forman saw the enamel cup with a red five-pointed star on his desk, he would always think of a breezy evening in March 1942.

At that time, the sky over Pingyang was thick with dark clouds, and the drifting clouds obscured the sun, like an inverted ocean. It rolled from northwest to southeast, never stopping, leaving behind little precious rain to nourish this dry land, extinguish the ash clouds it had ignited in the flames of war, and cleanse it of the black dust it had stained with gunpowder.

The only thing that seemed unaffected by the war was the surging Fen River, flowing as it had for thousands of years. "Mr. Forman, the question you asked..."

Several men sat at one end of the table, wearing slightly faded, dark green military uniforms. They crossed their hands, knuckles interlocked: their hands were heavily calloused.

The knuckles were a little prominent, but neatly arranged, like the rough wooden table.

It looks very crude, but it is very clean.

On the table were several empty enamel cups and a brand new Kodak camera. One of the men, wearing glasses, finally took them off and slowly said, "Let me tell you a story."

"I remember that was when we were fighting guerrilla warfare around Fenxi County, around 41. Our unit had just been promoted from a guerrilla unit to a regional independent unit. Because we were a bit reckless, we were ambushed by the Japanese in an almost impossible location, suffering heavy losses.

"How tragic was it? It could almost be said that the entire army was annihilated."

He was recounting a story as simple as eating and drinking. "The Japanese occupied a favorable position and attacked us from a high position. Their artillery fire was accurate, and their machine guns delivered a dense barrage. My comrades in the unit had always ambushed the enemy, but this time they ambushed us. We were caught off guard and nearly wiped out. The company commander ordered several of my comrades and I to break out and seek reinforcements..."

"We were lucky. Not only did we escape the encirclement, we also found reinforcements. But by the time we led our brother troops to the rescue, the Japanese had already withdrawn. All that remained on the battlefield was wreckage, and... and..." He patted a scarred soldier, pressing his hand firmly on the latter's shoulder, as if trying to control some emotion about to burst out, "and a row of bodies tied to trees."

"The Japanese took no prisoners. They tied their captured comrades to trees and used them for bayonet practice. Each body had four or five bayonet wounds. Mr. Forman, I don't need to elaborate on what they experienced before they died. But," he emphasized, "we later followed the trail and wiped out this group of Japanese troops. However, among those Japanese and puppet army prisoners, we found a child, a Chinese child."

The man who had shown almost no emotion before paused and took a deep breath. He tensed up with full concentration, like a leopard ready to pounce.

But he finally relaxed and resumed his previous demeanor and tone: "After review,

We discovered that the reason these Japanese and puppet troops knew to set up an ambush in that location was because of the directions this child led. Combining multiple pieces of evidence, there's little chance of error."

"why?"

"Yes, why? We really want to know why, so we asked many people and investigated many things." The bespectacled soldier also sighed. "This child was a homeless child in Fenxi City. He had no food to eat. After the Japanese occupied, a few kind-hearted soldiers gave him some food and a set of old clothes. The child would hang out outside the Japanese barracks all day, and those soldiers would often play with him and give him food.

"Later, when the Japanese suffered losses in their attacks on our guerrilla zones, they thought of finding traitors to lead the way. However, these traitors were difficult to find and easy to catch. So the intelligence department of the 65th Division (formerly the 16th Independent Mixed Division) came up with a plan. They found several of these children and gave them good food and drink, telling them that the Japanese were good people, sent by the gods to save the Chinese. To control these children, they fed them cocaine and opium, and even found prostitutes for them - all of whom were experienced and good at manipulating people.

"How could a fifteen or sixteen-year-old kid withstand such a battle? He was still beaten to death." The soldier snorted and laughed: "Little traitors like this are much more troublesome than ordinary traitors and spies.

"We have been evacuating people from the Japanese-occupied areas to the base area. We are based on the masses and rely on the masses, so naturally we should treat the people well. But children are small targets, and it is easy to let people down. Even if we can identify them, by the time we can pull these little traitors out of the crowd, I am afraid that the color of our underwear will be seen.

"Even if they were caught, it would be troublesome—the discipline, education, and complaints we've always enforced are practically useless against these little bastards. Even if they're freed from drugs and released, they often relapse within a month and return to traitor the Japanese. I'm afraid the only way to completely solve this problem is to indiscriminately arrest all the children and execute them all."

"But," he stressed, "can we do this? We are the people's army, can we do this?"

"That....…"

"Things are inherently complex, requiring a pragmatic and concrete analysis of each case. Mr. Forman," the soldier laughed, as if nothing had happened. "Since we have chosen this path, we must shoulder the responsibilities and bear the costs it represents. We rely on the people and are rooted in the people, so we naturally know how to distinguish our enemies from our friends."

"The Japanese trained them to invade China, using drugs and pornography to control them. So, naturally, we must unite to fight the Japanese. Class oppression, harsh conditions, and lack of education have left them without parents, impoverished, and easily deceived, unable to distinguish right from wrong. So, we must carry out a revolution, transform the environment, and popularize education..."

And if such children appear on the battlefield again and become our enemies, whether they are Chinese or Japanese, I will pull the trigger without hesitation - I know exactly what I am doing and what I am fighting for. "

The bespectacled soldier smiled confidently, showing none of the guilt, remorse, and self-blame Foreman feared would plague him. "We feel pity, we sympathize, but we won't turn into cold-blooded monsters, much less suffer from the 'battle phobia' you mentioned."

"So, what happened to that child... that little traitor?"

"Oh, him. He escaped when he was captured and attacked our soldiers. Then he was stabbed to death by a red tassel spear from a child sentry on the perimeter of our team."

Many years later, when Harrison Forman recalled a breezy evening in March 1942, the words of an ordinary Chinese soldier would always echo in his ears, like an old but well-maintained and exquisitely made phonograph, playing a phonograph record that had been played many times but was still clear.

The wind passed by Forman, taking away the heat from the surface of his skin and the veil covering his heart, revealing his enthusiasm, determination, confidence and courage.

Forman looked westward as the sun was setting. The Fen River, surging and surging, shimmered with golden waves as it flowed southward, like the blood of this land. He couldn't help but think of a saying: The sun will always rise again, even if it only illuminates ruins.

Even if everything is destroyed, the Chinese people will rebuild their homes on the ruins, brick by brick.

"Comrade," Harrison Forman thought for a moment and took out another camera from his backpack, "let's take a picture as a souvenir.

"Use color film."

"Oh! This film is really expensive!"

"That's fine. I think a whole roll of color film wouldn't be too much at this point."

Chapter 631 I, Kaishen, am not scared

In another time and space, Chiang Kai-shek gave people a classic image of himself as "America's good dog."

As the most capable figure among the puppet regimes cultivated by the United States as of 2023, Chiang Kai-shek often appears in various works as a good bootlicker of the United States: accepting US military aid and guidance, doing his utmost to sabotage the People's Liberation Army and New China, and in the process realizing the dream of "overcoming difficulties and restoring the country."

However, from another perspective, a systematic review of the Republic of China's "fathers" reveals that while Chiang Kai-shek presided over the Republic of China for much of its history as "America's good dog," the powerful American enemy could only be considered a "wild father" who rose to power through sheer might. The Republic of China's biological father, first wife, object of admiration, and goal of its efforts were likely still the small island nation of Japan.

He dropped out of the Japanese Army Preparatory School (which claimed to be a graduate of the Japanese Army Academy). He refused to declare war on Japan. He fought the war while paying indemnities. After Japan's defeat, he even protected war criminals and made them work for him to fight the People's Liberation Army. In short, most of the top leaders of the Republic of China were complete fans of Japan, and the most loyal fan of Japan among them, Chiang Kai-shek, could be said to have a deep and passionate love for Japan.

Therefore, when the Japanese navy successfully attacked Pearl Harbor and the Japanese army beat up the Allied forces in Southeast Asia, Chiang Kai-shek was actually quite happy in his heart: You see, Britain and the United States can't beat Japan, so it's natural that China can't beat Japan either. It's just natural and right!

Then.......

Then the Eighth Route Army beat the Japanese army for a month and almost wiped out the First Army.

Chiang Kai-shek sat in his office in Yunxiu Tower, in the chair that symbolized his status as the legitimate leader of the Republic of China. It had been two hours—ever since he received the war situation report from the aide-de-camp. The aide-de-camp, familiar with the president's idiosyncrasies like observers who had accompanied a ferocious beast for years, now avoided him, unwilling to approach the closed office door, fearing that they might bring bad luck upon Chiang Kai-shek. Nonsense! The president hadn't touched a single piece of today's crispy potatoes—his favorite flavor was cucumber!

Fortunately, He Yaozu, the director of the secretariat, was quite clever. As soon as the battle information came into his hands, he sent a telegram to Mrs. Meilin in the name of the secretariat.

Please ask this Chiang Kai-shek fire extinguisher and Kaishen pressure relief valve to return to Chongqing as soon as possible.

This means that almost no one dared to take the initiative to look for Captain Kaishen before his wife came back.

Reports scattered across the table, chronicling the most crucial recent developments on the Chinese battlefield—the Eighth Route Army's Spring Offensive. The various reports were arranged from bottom to top, progressing from March 2nd to the present. The early March report ran something like this: "The foolish Red Bandits, overestimating their own capabilities, have provoked border conflicts. Communist troops on both the northern and southern fronts of Shanxi Province are being pushed back by Japanese counterattacks, suffering heavy losses."

The report in mid-March became: Although the Communist troops conquered southern and northern Shanxi, they were blocked in Xinkou and Pingyang, making it difficult to advance.

It may be difficult to maintain the current balance.

The one at the top had a big title: "The Brave Eighth Route Army Entered Jincheng Today." There was nothing much to say about it afterwards, but there was one sentence that was very thought-provoking:

"The mighty and majestic Eighth Route Army soldiers annihilated 8 Japanese divisions and captured about 16 Japanese soldiers..."

Even if there were comments from the attendant office next to it, saying that the Eighth Route Army must have falsely reported their results, magnified the enemy's losses, and reduced their own casualties, but... but how could the Eighth Route Army defeat the Japanese?

How could the Eighth Route Army defeat the Japanese?

How could the Eighth Route Army defeat the Japanese?

Chiang Kai-shek's veins bulged and his fists clenched, as if the Eighth Route Army was not fighting the fascists who invaded China, but the idols that Chiang Kai-shek worshipped every day.

The feeling of having one's "faith" shattered was indeed unpleasant. The statue, radiating holy light, fell and shattered to the ground. Everyone looked closely and saw that beneath the gilded exterior lay nothing but filthy, rancid mud. However, Chiang Kai-shek's concerns went beyond this. He even said that the issue of "the Eighth Route Army becoming too powerful and difficult to handle" was not his primary concern.

The more crucial thing is that after the Eighth Route Army won the battle, many people actually sent telegrams of congratulations to the Communist Party before the Central News Agency published its statement!

Liu Ziqian of Xikang and Deng Jinkang of Chengdu personally visited the Eighth Office in Chengdu for a banquet to congratulate the Eighth Route Army on its victory over the Japanese. Long Dengyun of Yunnan Province, while not personally visiting, sent Zhang Chong to the Eighth Office on the shores of Cuihu Lake in Chuncheng to present gifts and congratulate the Eighth Route Army on his behalf. He also signed a tin mining cooperation agreement with the Eighth Route Army. As for Li Bai and Yu Fuqi of the Guangxi clique, while they did not attend the banquet, they issued a telegram to congratulate the Eighth Route Army with great fanfare...

According to the Military Control Commission's investigation, there were many more people who privately congratulated the Communist Party without publicly sending telegrams, including many of Whampoa's most successful students and close associates.

And there were many people around Chiang Kai-shek who wrote a petition saying that "the central government should take the interests of the people into consideration".

Bureau, not sparing fame and position, to comfort the front-line officers and men", and then forced the Military Commission's Propaganda Department to issue a commendation telegram to the "Eighteenth Group Army".

Even the British, American and Soviet embassies issued telegrams to congratulate the Communist Party, saying that "in the current Allied struggle against fascism,

Your department has performed outstandingly and dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the fascists."...

Although the Communist Party's response was very restrained and low-key, and did not show much intention of winning favor; although the British, American and Soviet ambassadors explained to the Executive Yuan that the congratulatory message only expressed congratulations on the victory and had no other meaning, and would not change their recognition and support for the Nationalist government; although that group of "party-state pillars" avoided the question and said that they just felt that "this victory inspired the people's morale and was very gratifying, and they were moved by it and expressed their feelings directly."

But this incident still made Chiang Kai-shek feel dizzy, as if he had been struck by lightning and Mount Tai was collapsing before his eyes. Whenever he closed his eyes, he seemed to see the vast Republic of China.

Everyone in the KMT looked at him with awe. Wherever he went, others still addressed him respectfully as "General Manager".

The judge and the chairman all looked sideways and whispered to each other...

"What a bunch of parasites! Where do they put the central government? They are simply shameless and forgetful of their principles.

"This shameless Soviet Russia, while clearly cutting off support for our country and our army, allowed the Volunteer Column to remain in Shaanxi, assisting the Eighth Route Army in combat, manning artillery and driving vehicles, and doing everything in its power..."

"Especially England! First they lost Malaya, then they lost East India, and now the Japanese have even invaded Burma. Aren't the 1st British-Burmese Division and the 17th British-Indian Division weaklings beaten to pieces by the Japanese? Even the newspaper boys on the street are spouting sarcasm, saying the British army can't beat the Japanese, and that our expeditionary force shouldn't send troops and should just continue guarding the border..."

He was so angry that he pulled out his diary and wrote furiously: "...At this moment, in such a huge party and country, who can be trusted and who can be used?"

-------one

In addition to being a work record, a place to prepare personal articles, and a place to vent emotions, diaries also served Chiang Kai-shek in clarifying his thoughts and soothing his mood.

With a flurry of emotion, outrage, and analysis written down on paper, Chiang Kai-shek set aside those few pages, edited and revised them, and finally completed the manuscript. As such a work was completed, his mood and thoughts also gradually settled. It was not the style of a Whampoa man to talk about failure and become discouraged in front of the Communist Party. Chiang Kai-shek began to reorganize his thoughts and find a solution to the current situation.

"The most important thing now is to reorganize the KMT and the national army. To achieve this, three steps are necessary: ​​unify thinking, rebuild..."

He frowned and first wrote "Political Commissar Team", then as if he saw something extremely disgusting, pinched his nose and crossed it out, and changed it to "Military Supervision System"; after a moment, he thought it was inappropriate and changed it to "Political Work System" again: ...We also need to rebuild cadre schools and train talents: People with old ideas in the army are restricting the effectiveness of our army's combat effectiveness, and they should be "adjusted" by multiple means.

"The reconstruction of the political work system requires a single leader, preferably my son, Ching-kuo." After writing this paragraph, Chiang Kai-shek wrote down Hu Qinzhai's name and placed a check mark next to it. "Secondly, all destabilizing factors within the Party and the military should be eliminated."

Chiang Kai-shek rubbed his bald head and reached for some crispy potatoes. After devouring them, he wiped his hands and continued writing. But soon, he stopped writing, leaned back in his chair, and began to think. A string of names flew through his mind, forming several queues.

Some of the columns were filled with so-called "rebels," such as Ma Ziyin of the Ningma Army, Tao Zhiyue of the Hunan Army, Gao Liqing of the National Salvation Army, Ma Xiufang of the Northeastern Advancing Army, and Sun Shutang of the Shaanxi Army... In short, many of them were the kind of people and troops that were popularly known as anti-Japanese patriotic generals.

Some formations were marked as troops that needed to be temporarily recruited, such as the Guangxi clique, the Qing Ma clique, and the Fu clique; some troops were blamed and marked as needing to be absorbed faster, such as the Northwest Army, the Hunan Army, and the Shaanxi Army, which had already been part of the Central Army; only a few people and a few troops were included in the ranks of "one's own people." Chiang Kai-shek thought about it and finally removed "Dai Anlan" and "Chen Cixiu" from the ranks of "one's own people."

In the current situation, the only people I can trust are Chiang, Soong, Kong, and my in-laws... I'm all alone, all alone... Chiang Kai-shek snorted a bit self-deprecatingly. "Finally, I need to find strong external support to help me reorganize the Party army and restore its strength."

Just then, there was a knock on the office door. After receiving permission, the secretary quietly entered and reported to Chang Kai-shen softly, "President, the wife has arrived." "I understand. I'll meet her here."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand and asked the secretary to leave the office.

Chapter 632 Encore

When a popular band performs, in addition to the many pieces listed on the set list, they often have some "reserved pieces" that have also been rehearsed for a long time but have not yet been publicly announced, as a response to the audience's enthusiasm, love and praise - the concept of "encore" is basically defined by this.

Unlike crosstalk performers who, having won the audience's applause, are asked to perform an encore, in this recently concluded battle, amidst the audience's enthusiastic and diverse applause, some performers, unwilling to see their performance end, wanted to return to the stage where the curtain was being lowered for an "encore" of their own.

The Imperial Japanese Navy, the old Imperial Japanese Navy, has appeared! The IJN uses the skill "Encore"!

"IJN"'s "encore performance" has started!

At this point in March 1942, the Japanese Navy was actually quite busy.

Since the December attack on Pearl Harbor, officially declaring war on Britain, the US, the Netherlands, and the Netherlands, the entire Japanese Navy has been on a frenzy of advance. Landings were made on Luzon Island in the Philippines, then on Java Island, expanding the Empire's influence throughout Southeast Asia. In the same March that the entire First Army of the Chinese Army was annihilated by the Eighth Route Army, the once-mighty nations of Britain, the US, the Netherlands, and others surrendered before the IJN's massive artillery and sea eagles.

Oh, although many of these land battles were fought by the army...

This is true.

Since 1942, apart from a few sporadic naval battles, the entire JN had only had one naval battle that could be considered "large-scale" - the commander of the 5th Fleet, His Excellency Takeo Takagi, led heavy cruisers and torpedo fighters to fight against the white TABDA coalition. For the rest of the time, there were basically no "real ocean battles".

Even the outcome of this battle was far from perfect—(in this time and space), the UJN, with vastly superior manpower and firepower, only sank HMS Druidt, HMS Java, and HMS Marblehead, and severely damaged the British HMS Caledon. The rest of the ABDA fleet evaded subsequent Japanese air attacks, escaping under cover of darkness and cloud into the Indian Ocean, leaving the UJN with an unsatisfactory "tactical victory."

The tasks of suppressing the enemy's artillery fire, maintaining the blockade, and capturing merchant ships attempting to break through the blockade consumed a great deal of the IUN's energy and further diluted the fleet's seemingly immense strength. Yes, yes, yes, these missions were necessary, but they were utterly dull—as dull as the cloudless sky over the Pacific Ocean, empty of anything.

So, when the Army was ridiculed by the Navy for its disastrous campaign, the Navy offered no vindication, merely congratulating each other on the fact that a significant portion of next year's special war funds would likely be diverted to the shipbuilding budget. Finally, after the Army's embarrassing "request for Navy assistance," and only at the Imperial Headquarters' request, did the Navy finally "reluctantly" show interest and "reluctantly decide" to assist the Army.

After all, this is because the operation to eliminate the Lu Province airport is related to the security of the Empire! It is not a way to severely punish the Army and show off the Navy! Don't think too much!

However, at present, the Combined Fleet is busy "deploying its military forces in all directions" on the battlefield in the South China Sea, and most of the ships on hand are very busy and have no time to spare.

So, the Naval General Staff came up with a solution:

Since the Combined Fleet is so busy, the ships that don't belong to them should be more available - let the naval cadets who are currently on board for training take the lead!

This is indeed a good idea.