Chapter 24: The Whole Nation is Stirring! Begging for Votes!

  Nanjing Temporary Headquarters of the Japanese Army. The communication soldier quickly ran to the gate of Nanjing Japanese Sixth Division Deputy Division Commander Inao Osamu and loudly reported: "Report to the Division Commander, an urgent telegram has arrived from Colonel Yoshitake of the 6th Cavalry Brigade!"

  Hanazono Mamoru didn't respond, the communications soldier only faintly heard a woman's moans and a man's heavy breathing coming from the room. After about half a while, Hanazono Mamoru opened the door with his clothes disheveled and walked out of the room, saying to the communications soldier: "Nen"

  The signal soldier stood at attention and said, "General Yoshida's telegram has arrived. The 6th Cavalry Brigade was ambushed by the Chinese bandits near Huishan and annihilated! The entire 6th Cavalry Brigade, except for the brigade commander and the signal soldiers, were wiped out!"

  "Bah! The Sixth Regiment has more than 3,000 men. How can those 3,000 pigs be slaughtered by the Chinese so quickly? Where is that idiot Yoshida now? Send him a telegram and have him come see me immediately!"

  The communications soldier looked a bit embarrassed and said: "Lieutenant General Yoshifuru has already committed seppuku after sending this telegram!"

  The telegram was sent to General Shigetarō Ishii in Shanghai, who was furious after reading it. He ordered the Japanese military police to kill Zhang Mingyu at all costs, to get rid of this guy who had repeatedly smeared the face of the great Imperial Japanese Army, and had broken the myth of the invincibility of the "brave" Imperial Japanese Army several times. From then on, Zhang Mingyu rose to the same position as Chiang Kai-shek on the Japanese assassination list. In order to get rid of Zhang Mingyu, the Japanese intelligence agency sent out two female spies, Kawashima Yoshiko and Takeuchi Kikuko, to approach him.

  At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was holding a military meeting with senior generals of the National Army to discuss the next phase of operations against Japan. It was then that an aide walked in and whispered something into Chiang's ear... Chiang smiled and said: "Let everyone hear the telegram being read aloud!"

  The attendants loudly read out: "According to the information from the Technical Department of the Military Commission's garrison in Nanjing, General Zhang Mingyu led his troops to annihilate the Japanese army's Sixth Cavalry Brigade after breaking through the siege in Nanjing yesterday in Anhui Province!"

  The entire venue was quiet, absolutely silent! Every National Army general present was stunned, their eyes wide with amazement. Another Japanese regiment had been annihilated? And completely wiped out at that! It's not like Zhang Mingyu brought out several tens of thousands of elite troops from Nanjing, but rather a few hundred defeated and wounded soldiers. Yet, in such circumstances, they were still able to annihilate an entire Japanese cavalry regiment.

  What is this concept, are the devils all lying on the ground to be killed? Some National Army officers secretly thought in their hearts. Chiang Kai-shek was very satisfied with the reaction of the National Army officers present. He let his attendant read out the telegram in front of everyone just to intimidate those who were not firm in their stance, and at the same time to boost their confidence in continuing to resist the Japanese army!

  Chief of Staff Chen Cheng spoke first: "General Ming Yu's tactical command ability is comparable to that of the ancient and modern times! With only a few hundred armored soldiers, he annihilated the Japanese army's elite brigade. This is an unthinkable feat. With such talent in our party and country, why should we fear those Eastern dwarfs?"

  It's no wonder that Chen Cheng said so. During the War of Resistance, when the National Army didn't have superior firepower to the Japanese army, they never annihilated a whole Japanese regiment-level unit. Even in the Battle of Taierzhuang during the Battle of Xuzhou, General Li Zongren was unable to completely annihilate the surrounded Japanese Segawa Brigade (equivalent to a division), only defeating most of them. Zhang Mingyu repeatedly failed to achieve complete annihilation of the Japanese army's entire unit.

  Moreover, it was under the premise that they were at a disadvantage in terms of military strength and firepower. Zhang Mingyu's appearance brought surprise after surprise to the Kuomintang and even the whole country! But for the Japanese invading army, it brought one nightmare and humiliation after another.

  At that time, the major newspaper and news agencies once again widely publicized Zhang Mingyu's heroic deeds, greatly boosting the morale of the National Army! The people of the whole nation once again recognized Zhang Mingyu, this young general, and affectionately called him "The General Who Destroyed Japan".

  Zhang Mingyu was demonized and deified in the hearts of people across the country, to the point where later when General Zhang Mingyu led his army to conquer Japan, young people from all over the country enthusiastically enlisted, rushing to sign up. Countless mothers sent their sons off to join the military, saying to them: "Your deceased father was a soldier under Commander Zhang! Don't bring shame to your father!" Countless young wives sent their husbands off to join the military, saying to them: "If you're a real man, you should be like Commander Zhang, standing tall and unyielding all your life! Swear to destroy the Eastern Barbarians! But come back alive, okay?"

  "Who says the devils can't be defeated? General Zhang Mingyu relied on just a few hundred men to wipe out several thousand devils!"

  "What's there to be afraid of the devils! General Zhang Mingyu led a few men and took down their general! Led a few hundred men and took down their tens of thousands!" These were classic phrases that old soldiers of the National Army would say to new recruits, passed down until they became more and more exaggerated!

  Let's get back on track! General Zhang is galloping wildly on his horse right now, and Zhang Mingyu, who didn't ride horses much in his past life, is finally getting his fill of it! Due to the limited number of horses and the large number of soldiers, many warriors were riding two to a horse. Du Yue, being a young girl from a wealthy family who couldn't ride horses, ended up sharing a horse with Zhang Mingyu.

  At this time, Du Yue was like a little bird leaning on Zhang Mingyu's shoulder, and it would be more accurate to say that she was lying in his arms. In her heart, how beautiful! Holding this man who is not only handsome but also a hero admired by everyone, which girl wouldn't have a crush? Which girl doesn't like heroes? Sitting in his arms, Du Yue felt a sense of security from the bottom of her heart, and she knew that this man's broad shoulders could bring her absolute safety and protection!

  Zhang Mingyu was riding a horse and felt that the person in his arms was getting closer and closer to him, almost squeezing himself off the horse. He couldn't help but ask: "Miss Du, what are you doing? You're almost pushing me off!"

  Duyue, who was secretly thinking about Feifei, was startled by Zhang Mingyu's question and suddenly turned red from her face to her neck. She mentally scolded him, "How can you be so direct?! Honestly!"

  After a day of rushing, Zhang Mingyu and his men finally arrived in Fengyang City. The 31st Army of the National Revolutionary Army's Eleventh Military Group was stationed in this area. On the second day after arriving in Fengyang, Zhang Mingyu received a telegram from Chiang Kai-shek, ordering him to lead his troops to Xuzhou. After replenishing ammunition and dry rations, Zhang Mingyu set out with his brothers-in-arms. Along the way, Nationalist soldiers at each stop also wanted to catch a glimpse of the heroic general who had defeated Japan.

  Here is the translation:

  It took Zhang Mingyu and his independent division half a month to arrive at Linfen, not far from Xuzhou. At this time, the Japanese army had stopped its attack on the National Army and was temporarily adopting a defensive posture. Zhang Mingyu knew that this was the Japanese army resting for the next phase of strategic battles. According to historical records, by New Year's Day this year, the devils would launch the Xuzhou Battle centered around the Xuzhou area. Although Zhang Mingyu's appearance changed the Nanjing Massacre, saving tens of thousands of lives of Nanjing soldiers and civilians, and also eliminating Kōji Abe, the executor of the Nanjing Massacre in history! However, these were not enough to change the current situation of the war of resistance. History still had a great deal of resilience, and it was still running along its original trajectory. History is like a train, and Zhang Mingyu's appearance only made some minor changes to certain details, but did not affect its overall operation.

  The first stage ends here, and in this volume, Autumn Wind also saw his own shortcomings. I will strive to improve and work hard to bring you a truly epic and exciting anti-war story in the next volume! Thank you for your continued support, brothers! Your support is my motivation!

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