Chapter 22 Xuzhou Daily

  "Hai, I am Qingteng Yimut!" Qingteng Yimut said with a quiver. The storm that had shaken Yangcheng a few days ago had not yet dissipated, and today's gloom was already gathering.

  "Aoki, what's going on? I received a message that Yangcheng was attacked and the reinforcement troops I sent with Yoshida Kōran were completely annihilated?" asked Kobayakawa no Hiromichi in a heavy tone.

  "What? Commander, you're saying that Lieutenant Yoshida's entire unit has been annihilated?" Aoki Ichimon asked in surprise. He had thought that Yoshida was just trying to slack off and take a break on the road, but he didn't expect it to be like this... The military strength of an entire unit wasn't a small number, who could have eliminated Lieutenant Yoshida's entire unit? Many question marks floated up in Aoki Ichimon's mind.

  "Are you kidding me? You're the commander of Yangshan and you don't even know this?! Bah! Do you deserve to wear that imperial uniform on your body?"

  "Ah-hai!" Qingteng Yimutu continued, wiping the cold sweat from his brow: "Early this morning, our Yangcheng military arsenal was attacked by the enemy. Fortunately, no military supplies were damaged, but our troops suffered heavy casualties. I request that Your Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief, investigate this matter!"

  "Alright, I see. I'll give you a chance. You must find out which unit this is and whether it's the main force. Got it?"

  "Got it!"

  "If something goes wrong over there, you'll be the one to take responsibility!" said Kobayashi before hanging up the phone.

  Qingteng Yimuh took a deep breath, put the phone on the table, and thought to himself: an entire regiment was so easily annihilated, who could be this formidable? The Nationalist Party or the Communist Party? Qingteng Yimuh walked out shakily, looking at his own people cleaning up the battlefield, his heart filled with hatred for the Chinese.

  Shan Yixuan walked on the street, thinking about his next plan in his heart. The devils weren't fools, they had already tasted the bitter lesson from last time's sneak attack. This time, the devils absolutely wouldn't tolerate it anymore. "Newspaper for sale, special breaking news, mysterious troops annihilate over 2,000 devils within an hour."

  "Extraordinary news in Xuzhou, a mysterious troop annihilated over 2,000 devils within an hour, sir, want to buy a newspaper?" A girl with a stack of newspapers in her arms walked up to Shan Yixuan and said.

  Shan Yixuan smiled slightly, took out the pocket money Liu Yiming had prepared for him and said with a smile: "Here, give me one!" He handed two silver dollars to the girl. The girl smiled and returned the money to Shan Yixuan, saying: "Uncle, Grandpa said not to take money for today's newspaper." Shan Yixuan was taken aback, asking kindly: "Why?"

  The girl said innocently: "Grandpa says this is good news and should be spread to both the poor and the rich. For this good news, Grandpa told me not to ask for money, just distribute the newspapers!" The girl smiled innocently and handed a newspaper to Shan Yixuan. Shan Yixuan took the newspaper and looked at the large headline on the front page: "Breaking News: Mysterious troops annihilate over 2,000 Japanese soldiers from the Yoshida Woodland Regiment within an hour."

  Shan Yixuan folded up the newspaper, only to find that the girl beside him had long since left. "Extra! Extra! Mysterious troops annihilate over 2,000 devils within an hour..." The childish voice echoed through the streets, and Shan Yixuan couldn't help but let out a bitter smile - this world also couldn't hide from the eyes of a reporter.

  "Commander, I just received a newspaper. Take a look!" A man wearing the National Army uniform and with the rank of lieutenant colonel handed over the Xuzhou Daily to the man in front of him.

  The man took over the Xuzhou Daily and the huge headline caught his attention. He spent a minute looking at the title marked things and said in a low voice, "Are there troops from my 74th Army around Yangcheng?"

  Lieutenant Colonel shook his head and said, "Yangcheng, before the Japanese entered, there was a regiment of our 74th Army stationed here. Because Yangcheng is a very good strategic location, the former army commander Wang Yaowu specifically instructed that after the Japanese attacked Yangcheng, the troops we left behind retreated back, until now, there are no troops around Yangcheng!"

  The man took a sip of tea and thought for a moment before saying: "Then are there any Communist troops operating in the vicinity?"

  The commander pointed to the map and said: "Downstream of Yangcheng, there are about a company's worth of Communist troops. Moreover, as I've indicated, the Communist troops' weapons and equipment are outdated, and they have various problems such as insufficient personnel. Therefore, this official believes it is impossible for the Communist troops to be responsible!"

  "The Communist army often fights guerrilla warfare, but this matter cannot be said to be absolute. Send someone to investigate whether this mysterious unit is a unit of the Eighth Route Army or not, and report back in time!"

  "Yes, Commander, should we order a regiment to liberate Yangcheng? Yangcheng is a very strategic location, I heard the devils are going to build an airport there! If the devil's airport really lands in Yangcheng, it will be a big hidden danger for my Xuzhou... Jiangsu in the future!" The lieutenant colonel said in a low voice to the commander.

  "I'll think about it, this still needs to be studied in terms of the battle plan. I think that since this mysterious unit dares to attack the Kitajima Brigade, they won't take the Japanese devils in Yangcheng lightly either. For now, let's first figure out who is behind this, so as to avoid conflicts between our two armies in the future. Although the Nationalists and Communists are at odds, during these special times, we still need to join hands with the Communist Party to resist the foreign enemy!" The commander speaking was Li Zongren, Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth War Zone of the National Revolutionary Army.

  The lieutenant colonel nodded at Li Zongren and respectfully said, "Good, then I'll go check it out first!" Li Zongren hummed in agreement, and the lieutenant colonel immediately turned around and walked out of Li Zongren's office.

  This is purely fictional, please do not refer to history. This article was written before the Battle of Xuzhou, please do not misunderstand that it is the Chinese army stationed in Xuzhou during the Battle of Xuzhou. During the Battle of Xuzhou, the Chinese army was commanded by Li Zongren, commander-in-chief of the 5th War Zone, with a total of 64 divisions and 3 brigades, approximately 600,000 people, concentrated mainly north of Xuzhou to resist the Japanese army's southward invasion. A portion of the troops were deployed along the southern section of the Tianjin-Pukou Railway to prevent the Japanese army from advancing northwards, ensuring the security of Xuzhou.

  Li Zongren looked at the newspaper and muttered to himself: "What kind of special troops are they? They actually managed to annihilate over 2,000 enemies?"

  Just as the mysterious atmosphere had not yet dissipated, the Eighth Route Army underground party also received this news. The thrilling news made the officers of the Eighth Route Army feel puzzled. Which unit was it? How many people were there and what kind of equipment did they have? They could actually annihilate 2,000 enemies in just one hour. Such talent, whoever would want to recruit them under their own command.

  The armed forces on the map, apart from the National Army and the Eighth Route Army, were just some bandits and robbers. The commander of the 115th Division's Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army looked at the map in confusion. He had just received definite news that the detachment of the Eighth Route Army downstream of Yangcheng did not participate in the battle. Who could it be?