Chapter 32: Cannot Not Go (Part 1)

  When Takahashi Daisa led the Kenpeitai troops to Kunshan Railway Station, it was already broad daylight.

  The Kempeitai had armored cars, large trucks and sidecar motorcycles as mechanized transport tools, but the continuous heavy rain for over a dozen hours made the roads muddy and impassable, severely slowing down the Japanese army's marching speed. Nakagawa's 36th Regiment was farther away from Kunshan, yet arrived almost simultaneously with the Kempeitai.

  The 36th Division was after all an elite field division, not something that the military police could compare with.

  However, the first to arrive at Kunshan Railway Station was actually the special warfare battalion led by Watanabe Daisa.

  However, when Lieutenant General Watanabe led the special warfare team to Kunshan Railway Station with a forced march, the Chinese army had already escaped by train, leaving behind only the Japanese military guard and the bodies of seriously wounded soldiers. In order to prevent the Japanese armored trains from pursuing, the Chinese army even blew up two railway bridges in Xiuzhen, west of Kunshan.

  Watanabe's special warfare battalion is well-equipped and well-trained, but it can't fly into the sky!

  So, apart from sending emergency notifications to the garrison troops at stations such as Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou to be on high alert and prepare to intercept the enemy army, Lieutenant General Toeba was already unable to catch up. The railway bridge had been blown up, and even if an armored train were called in, there would be no way to pursue it. Was he supposed to have his special warfare battalion chase after a high-speed train on foot? What kind of international joke is this!

  Soon, Lieutenant General Takahashi and Lieutenant General Nakagawa arrived in front of Lieutenant General Watanabe with a heavy expression.

  Watanabe's face twitched violently and he growled, "Our special warfare battalion was one step late, the Shina fox has escaped by train."

  "These damned Chinese foxes!" Kōhei Kōda gritted his teeth in anger.

  Nakagawa Commander hastily said: "We must immediately notify the Suzhou Railway Station ahead to intercept."

  "It's too late," said Lieutenant Watanabe. "The train passed Suzhou Station five minutes ago."

  "Hah!" Colonel Takahashi burst out in anger, "What is the defense team at Suzhou Railway Station eating?"

  "The guards didn't know anything about it." Lieutenant General Watanabe shook his head and said, "The station's track workers were leftover Chinese, they thought it was an Imperial Army train transporting supplies to the front lines, so they didn't dare block it. However, I've already called ahead to notify the Suzhou and Changzhou guard units to intercept this train."

  Nakagawa Commander said with some regret: "If it weren't for this damn foggy and rainy weather, we could have requested tactical support from the air force. With just one aerial bomb, we could have stopped the train, and the road wouldn't be as muddy and difficult to pass as it is now. It would be much harder for those Chinese to escape."

  "Don't say such things now," said Lieutenant Colonel Watanabe coldly. "I order you to pursue along the railway line at once!"

  "Ah-ha!"

  "Hurray!"

  Taka-hashi and Nakagawa stood at attention simultaneously, then bowed their heads sharply.

  …………

  At the same time, on the railway line from Suzhou to Wuxi, the train that Bao Shanying was taking was rushing forward with a whistle.

  As he watched the train running smoothly on the railway line, with the scenery outside the window rapidly retreating to both sides, Yue Weihan couldn't help but let out a long yawn and turned his head to Hua Hanlin: "Hanlin, I'll leave this to you."

  "Ah? No, no, no." Flower Hanlin said hastily, "I won't open this thing, I swear."

  "Who told you to open it?" Yue Weihan said in a bad tone, "You just stare here, if there's anything going on ahead, hurry up and blow the whistle to inform me, blow the whistle, do you know that?"

  "This I know," said Hua Hanlin, "isn't it just a matter of pressing the button?"

  "It's enough that you know." Yue Weihan said and immediately left the driver's room, entering the first carriage next to the car head.

  Although this train is mainly a fully enclosed freight car, there are still two passenger cars in front. Now all the cars are full of soldiers. The first car was used by Yue Weihan as a temporary command center, and the second car stored the entire "field hospital" brought by Hua Hanlin with the guard squad.

  Unfortunately, Hua Hanlin was unable to move the entire field hospital onto the truck because many large pieces of equipment were indeed impossible for human labor to transport. Considering future military actions, Yue Weihan could only reluctantly give up. Fortunately, with the equipment that had been transported, a simple field hospital could still be set up.

  Yue Weihan immediately ordered Liu Xin to set up a telegraph station as soon as he arrived.

  As soon as the radio was turned on, a wireless signal came in. Liu Xin translated the telegram and immediately stood up saying: "Commander, an urgent telegram from the Nanjing Garrison Command."

  Yu Weihan did not go to receive the telegram, but instead thought and said: "Nian."

  Liu Xin said: "Baoshan Camp: Report your location, personnel and equipment situation."

  "Uh-huh." Yue Weihan nodded and immediately dictated, "Nanjing Garrison War Zone Headquarters: The department is leading the troops to take the train towards Wuxi for an attack advance."

  "Furthermore, the department led a surprise attack on the Japanese army's Kunshan concentration camp and Kunshan railway station at dawn today, killing and wounding over 1,000 Japanese guards and soldiers, capturing 16 light and heavy machine guns, two 81mm mortars, and over 300 Type 38 rifles. We also rescued units from the 36th, 87th, and 145th divisions, as well as a unit from the Tax Police Brigade, totaling over 1,000 people, who have been temporarily incorporated into the Baoshan battalion's combat sequence. Please issue further combat orders to headquarters."

  "Zhíbù, Yuè Wéihàn, December 11th, 1937, 8 o'clock."

  …………

  Nanjing Garrison Command

  Tang Shen-zhi has arrived at the telegraph office and is now standing next to the telegraph machine that connects with the Baoshan Garrison.

  As for Yue Weihan and Bao Shan Camp, Tang Shangjiang had long been known to have heard of it. Under the vigorous promotion of Chinese and foreign media, the anti-war of the four-line warehouse has long been well-known to all, even overseas Chinese in Nanyang know the great name of Bao Shan Camp and Yue Yinglong, let alone Tang Shenzhi, a first-class general of the party and state?

  To be honest, Tang Shen was very opinionated about Gu Zhu's decision to put Baoshan Camp under the jurisdiction of Nanjing Garrison Command.

  Bao Shan's reputation is well-known, and in the old man's eyes, it's a special case. This elite troop is like a hot potato that no one wants to handle. If they're sent into battle, there's a risk of losing the old man's favorite troops, which would make him unhappy. But if they're not sent into battle, other troops will think they're being favored. The most troublesome thing is that this remnant troop is currently deep in enemy territory and could be surrounded and wiped out by the Japanese army at any moment.

  At this time, Gu Zhuang allocated the Baoshan Garrison to the Nanjing Garrison War Zone. Isn't this deliberately letting Tang Shenzi bear the infamous name of "losing his troops" and "failing to rescue"? However, opinions are just opinions, but Tang Shenzi didn't care about it anymore. Since he had volunteered to defend Nanjing, he hadn't planned on leaving alive anyway.

  What else does Tang Shenzhi have to worry about when he has already lost his life?

  "What's going on? Are you advancing towards Wuxi in a positive direction? This Yue Weihan!"

  The staff officer had just finished translating the first telegram, and General Tang's eyebrows suddenly twisted into a川 character. Although the main force of the Japanese army was gathering in Nanjing and Wuhu at this time, Wu Xi was after all an important town in southern Jiangsu Province, and the Japanese army would definitely leave behind considerable forces to garrison it. Wasn't the Baoshan camp going into the tiger's mouth?

  "Isn't this being too audacious?"

  Commander of the Central Military Academy's Instructional Corps, Gui Yongqing, also chimed in.

  An advisor suggested: "Commander, Wu Xi is too far from Nanjing, even if we want to save him, there's no way. Why not order him to lead his troops to retreat to Zhejiang?"

  "You think I don't want to?" Tang Shenzhi said irritably, "Officer Gu had already advised him to advance in the direction of Jiashan and Pinghu, but guess how this kid responded?"

  "How did he answer?"

  "It must be admitted that this young man, Yue Weihan, is indeed a rare talent." Tang Shen said with some emotion, "At the time, in his reply to General Gu's telegram, he said: The fierce battle in Nanjing is still raging, as a soldier of the party and state, I have no reason to flee from the battlefield. I have decided to lead my troops westward, to coordinate with General Tang to defend Nanjing firmly. Although there are only over a hundred remaining soldiers, they are insignificant to the overall situation. All I ask for is to comfort the spirit of the entire army in Baoshan camp who died for their country."

  Tang Shen Zhi recited the telegram sent by Yue Wei Han to Gu Zhu Tong word for word without missing a single character.

  The telegraph office suddenly became extremely quiet, with only the sound of the radio continuing to crackle. Including Tang Shen and Gui Yongqing, all the National Army generals present were somewhat agitated, while the young and beautiful female telegraph operators were even more tearfully moved.

  Soon, the telegraph operator translated the second part of the telegram from Baoshan Camp.

  "Did the Baoshan troops launch a surprise attack on the Kunshan concentration camp and train station?" Tang Shen Zhi's expression changed greatly after hearing the report from his staff officer, "And they even rescued over 1,000 prisoners of war from inside? Not to mention capturing over 300 Type 38 rifles and more than a dozen light and heavy machine guns, but also two mortars? This kid really doesn't know how to lose, no matter where he goes."

  "This is getting interesting." A staff officer said with a spirited expression, "Commander, now the Baoshan camp has people and equipment, and with Yue Weihan being a good fighter, it's not easy for the little devils to take him down. I think we can even let Baoshan camp launch a surprise attack on the enemy from behind."

  "It won't do, we still can't be careless. Yue Weihan and the Baoshan Regiment are registered under the old man's name, what if they really get eaten up by the little devils? You and I will both be held accountable." Tang Shen said this much, then continued, "Commander Gui, now that the Baoshan Regiment is part of your combat sequence in the Instructional Total Corps, what do you think we should do?"

  Gu Yongqing said: "I think it's better to let them withdraw to Jiangbei and defend Jingjiang, so as not to stay in the capital and hinder each other."

  "Commander Gui's words are exactly what I wanted to hear." Tang Shen nodded with a smile, and then ordered the signal officer, "Immediately send a telegram to the Baoshan camp, telling them to rush to the aid of Jingjiang, the military stronghold in northern Jiangsu, within five days. Those who fail will be dealt with by military law!"