Chapter 33: The Upper School's Student Council President (Upper) (Urgently Seeking Recommendation Tickets)

  When General Ishizuka walked into the military intelligence analysis room with a stern face, Major General Inoue Osamu, Chief of Staff of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, was already waiting there with a serious expression.

  Seeing Matsui Iwane, Inaba Shijiro Major General and those staff officers hastily stood at attention.

  Matsui Ishine waved his hand impatiently and said, "Ranno-san, what's going on? Didn't Watanabe Shōichi call last night saying that the Special Warfare Battalion could settle the battle before dawn?"

  "General, Lieutenant Watanabe's special forces unit was too late. The Treasure Mountain Regiment had already relocated before they even arrived at Yang Village!"

  "So does General Staff know or not, why such a situation has occurred?" Matsui Ishizuka said angrily, "Is it that the Chinese intelligence agency has deciphered our communication code again?"

  "It shouldn't be." Inumori Mamoru shook his head and said.

  "What's going on?"

  "Only two explanations, one is that Yue Weihan was very cautious and had already sensed some kind of danger before the special warfare battalion arrived, so he led his troops to transfer ahead of time; another explanation is that this is just a coincidence, the Baoshan camp originally wanted to launch a night raid on Kunshan concentration camp, so they happened to avoid the hunting of the special warfare battalion."

  Matsui Ishizuka frowned and said, "The construction of the Kunshan concentration camp is highly confidential. All Chinese laborers who participated in the construction of the concentration camp have been secretly executed. How did Yue Weihan and Bao Shan Camp know about it?"

  "This...," Inosuke shook his head and said, "Maybe some of those laborers slipped through the net."

  "Bah!" Matsui Ishizuka slammed his fist in anger, "The Treasure Mountain Camp has already taken the train to rush to Wuxi, but your Military Affairs Section still hasn't even figured out what's going on, trash, all of you are trash!"

  "Hai!" Lieutenant General Meshimori suddenly drew his feet back and bowed his head. All the staff officers also followed suit, drawing their feet back and bowing their heads.

  "Send a telegram to Nakagawa and Takahashi at once!" Commander Ishizuka said in anger, "Order the 36th Brigade and the Kempeitai to catch up with the Hohei-yama detachment within three days and annihilate them. If not, prepare to commit seppuku to apologize to the Emperor!"

  Matsui Iwane was really furious this time, because the assassination of Asaka-no-miya Yasuhiko was too big to be concealed and no one dared to conceal it. Asakano-miya's uncle, General Iwanaga, quickly sent a stern telegram after learning the news, ordering Matsui Iwane to pursue the perpetrator!

  This matter even shocked Emperor Hirohito, who personally telegraphed the China Expeditionary Army to rectify the situation.

  But the damage has already been done, and it's not easy to recover from this. The US, UK, and French media reporters based in Shanghai are now widely reporting on this incident.

  The most detestable is still the TASS reporter of the Red Soviet Union, who dared to write an article in the newspaper openly mocking the Imperial Army, saying that the Imperial Army couldn't even protect its own commander, and also claimed that the army was invincible? They also boasted that if the Kwantung Army dared to provoke a conflict in the Manchurian-Mongolian border area, the heroic Soviet Red Army would definitely wipe them out without leaving a single piece of armor!

  In short, the four-line warehouse anti-war and the assassination of Asaka Yasuhiko have severely damaged the "invincible image" of the Imperial Japanese Army. This not only greatly boosted the resistance determination of the Chinese government army but also weakened the fighting spirit and morale of the imperial soldiers to a certain extent.

  And all of this was started by Yue Weihan, that cunning Shina fox!

  In view of this, it is not an exaggeration to say that Yue Weihan has become a thorn in the side and a pain in the eyes of General Matsui Iwane. If it were not for the fact that the front line was under heavy pressure and the army's forces had been stretched to their limits, Matsui Iwane would even consider recalling one or two infantry brigades to participate in the hunt for this cunning Chinese fox and his defeated troops.

  …………

  Wuhan, on an expedition.

  The Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Central China Front, General Iwane Matsui, was in a terrible mood, while Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the National Government, was in a very good mood. The assassination of Asaka Yasuhiko by Yue Weihan had already caused a great stir in all the concessions in Shanghai and it was believed that before long this incident would spread throughout the Western world.

  Adding to the previous four-line warehouse anti-war, Yue Weihan and Baoshan Camp are not only well-known in mainland China, but also famous in Western countries!

  The Finance Minister, Soong Tse-ven, who had flown to the United States for financial support, recently sent a telegram from across the ocean, saying that a reporter from Associated Press, a young and beautiful American girl, kept asking him about Yue Weihan and Bao Shan's war efforts, making him feel both proud and annoyed.

  The Wang Shihe, the commander of the Imperial Guard next door, was also deeply moved.

  Your Excellency, as the leader of the party and state, is so concerned about the safety of a mere regiment, it can be seen that Your Excellency has already regarded Yue Weihan and his Baoshan Regiment as his most cherished ones! This is not surprising, after all, who made Yue Weihan both a graduate of Huangpu and a native of Fenghua? Moreover, this little guy is so capable, having defended the Sihang Warehouse for over 20 days, and then turning around to take down a Japanese army group commander!

  Chiang Kai-shek had just met with the representatives of the business community gathered in Wuhan and returned to his official residence, asking about the whereabouts of Yue Weihan and the Baoshan Regiment: "Shihe, where are Yue Weihan and the Baoshan Regiment now? Have they retreated towards Zhejiang? Has Gu Zhuotang sent troops to meet them?"

  "Wang Shihe said with a strange expression: 'Your Excellency, the Treasure Mountain Camp is now boarding the train to attack in the direction of Wuxi.'"

  "What did you say?" Chiang Kai-shek's face turned stern, his brow furrowed in concern. "What is this nonsense that Gu Zhuang is spouting? Why won't he let the Baoshan Regiment retreat to Zhejiang? What is he trying to do?"

  Wang Shihe said: "Gu Zhuang actually hoped that the Baoshan camp could withdraw to Zhejiang, but was rejected by Yue Weihan."

  At this point, Wang Shih's face involuntarily revealed a hint of inexplicable expression. He thought to himself that this Yue Weihan was indeed capable and could stir up trouble, but his habit of defying orders had become increasingly severe. Since he refused to accept the training order last time, it hadn't been long before he repeatedly disobeyed orders several times!

  However, Chairman Chiang's face was expressionless, and he asked again: "What did Yue Weihan say?"

  Wang Shihe recited the telegram sent by Yue Weihan to Gu Zhuotong word for word, and Chiang Kai-shek sighed after listening: "This is a real military man! If all the generals of our party and country were like Yue Weihan, how could the Japanese invaders dare to be rampant on our Chinese land?"

  After saying this, Director Chiang asked: "How many men and guns are left in the Baoshan camp now?"

  "Wang Shidao: 'Oh, and there's something I almost forgot. Last night, the Baoshan Camp raided the Japanese POW camp in Kunshan and rescued over a thousand prisoners of war. These prisoners are all veteran soldiers who have narrowly escaped death. The strength of the Baoshan Camp has now expanded to over a thousand men. Moreover, Tang Shenzhi, the commander of the Nanjing Garrison, has ordered the Baoshan Camp to rush to the rescue of Jingjiang immediately.'"

  It is said that the troops of Bao Shan Camp have been expanded to over a thousand people. Chiang Kai-shek's expression suddenly changed, and after a moment of contemplation, he turned to Wang Shihe and said: "Shihe, immediately send a telegram to Tang Shengzhi: Immediately expand Bao Shan Camp into Bao Shan Regiment, promote Yue Weihan from lieutenant colonel to colonel and regimental commander, award him the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun; all original officers of Bao Shan Camp will be promoted two ranks, each awarded 200 yuan; all original soldiers of Bao Shan Camp will be awarded 20 yuan each.

  After saying this, Chairman Chiang continued with great enthusiasm: "Also, after the Battle of Nanjing is over, I'll have Yue Weihan lead the Baoshan Regiment to Wuhan for rest and recuperation. I want to personally present them with a regimental flag!"