Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Difficult Battle

  "Where is Tuo De Yao's 31st Regiment now?" The Eighth Division headquarters, Fang Zida was looking at the map on the table, asking without turning his head.

  "The vanguard should have arrived at Qingpu by now, but we need to confirm the situation." Wang Xiaozhong replied casually, but he was actually skeptical. He didn't know what had gotten into Fang Zidao, this "imperial envoy" and "military supervisor" sent by the central government, that he would suddenly summon all high-ranking officers of the 8th Division to this "war room", which used to be the division's conference room, and have them hustle about for a whole night because of the situation in Shanghai.

  "Keep in close contact with the telegraph office, and notify me as soon as there's any news!" Fang Zida tossed the red and blue pencils on the drawing paper, turned his head to order the staff beside him, and then took over the hot towel handed by Zhang Huchen to wipe his face, which made his tired spirit a bit better.

  This era of warfare is really troublesome. Fang Zidao, although not a military man by birth, has never eaten pork but has seen pigs run? Born in the era of information explosion, he can still do it by analogy. Unfortunately, due to the backwardness of current technology, many aspects cannot be achieved. Just from the two aspects of troop movement and communication, the troops of a regiment took so long to arrive from Nanjing to Shanghai, and what's even more infuriating is that due to the troops' movement, in order to understand the situation, they had to wait until the troops arrived at a place with telegraph connections to get in touch. This kind of information lag is really maddening.

  "Ah, Ming brother, no need to be so flustered. Come, come, on a hot day like today, let's first have a cup of water and take a rest." Mud Bodhisattva Zhao Heng had not said anything all night, sitting silently in his chair with his eyes closed, as if everything was none of his concern. It wasn't until now that he slowly opened his eyes and smiled, offering some words of comfort.

  Nanjing is indeed worthy of its reputation as a "furnace", and the temperature in early summer Nanjing was already not low. Fang Zida, who had been busy all night, was indeed tired and exhausted. He took the cool water handed over by Zhao Hengyu and drank it in big gulps, seemingly suppressing the irritability in his heart.

  "Taoyao is still a steady person, judging by the time, he should have arrived in Qingpu. Don't worry, there will be news soon." Zhao Hengyi said with great confidence, as if giving Fang Zida a reassurance pill. Seeing Fang Zida nodding his head, he couldn't help but feel amused in his heart. This bookworm who doesn't even have many hairs on his face is holding onto the chicken feather as if it's an imperial edict, does he think that just by wearing a military uniform, he can become a general? Is this soldier so easy to command? He doesn't even know how to remain calm in the face of great events, and yet he wants to compete with me for control of the 8th Division?

  Although he thought so in his heart, Zhao Hengyu still kept a low profile on the surface. Moreover, he was secretly pleased in his heart. Fang Zidao ordered Tao Deyao's 31st Regiment to rush to Shanghai, which was a great good news for Zhao Hengyu. Who in the Eighth Division didn't know that the 31st Regiment was Zhao Dashi's most trusted troops? Tao Deyao controlling Shanghai was equivalent to Zhao Hengyu controlling Shanghai? As for the one regiment of Jiangsu Governor's Guard stationed in Shanghai, they were not even worth mentioning in Zhao Hengyu's eyes. Once the 31st Regiment arrived, the Revolutionary Party and the Shanghai Army would be exhausted from fighting each other, where would they have a place? In other words, he, Zhao Hengyu, was the real winner in the end.

  Just as he was gloating over his small abacus, the staff officer who had just run out for a short while rushed back to the combat room. It turned out that the telegraph office finally got in touch with the 31st Regiment.

  "Has the 31st Division headquarters arrived in Qingpu? Good! Where is the most advanced unit now?" Fang Zida put down his teacup and walked to the map, pointing his hand along the staff's report to find the location.

  "Order the 31st Regiment to advance immediately! Tell Tao De-yao to speed up, they must arrive at the manufacturing bureau and join the battle before... no, by 7:30 this morning!" Fang Zi-da gave the order without hesitation after glancing at his watch. After the aide-de-camp turned around and left, a smile finally appeared on his face.

  "Hehe, it's not too late yet. As long as the 31st Regiment can arrive on time, the Manufacturing Bureau will be in our Eighth Division's hands."

  "Right! I hope the Manufacturing Bureau can hold on." Huang Kaiyuan was also somewhat excited, everyone knew what it meant for the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau to be in their hands. From the news that had come from Shanghai earlier, Chen Qimei's troops were now fiercely attacking the manufacturing bureau, and the intense battle had been going on all night. Although the Shanghai Army stationed at the manufacturing bureau had suffered heavy casualties, the manufacturing bureau was still intact. However, frontline reports said that Chen Qimei was like a madman, with red eyes desperately throwing lives away, and although the Shanghai Army had sufficient ammunition, it would be difficult to continue fighting like this without suffering losses. If the defensive line were breached, even if the 31st Regiment arrived, it would be too late.

  "The Manufacturing Bureau can definitely hold on!" Fang Zida said resolutely, but he also knew that if time went on for too long, it would be dangerous. The Shanghai Army's garrison at the Manufacturing Bureau was a whole regiment, but the personnel were not full, and excluding logistics personnel and soldiers stationed in other places, the defending force had no more than 500 people. Moreover, the Manufacturing Bureau was now surrounded by Chen Qimei's troops and had become an isolated army. Under Chen Qimei's crazy continuous attacks, the soldiers' casualties were not small. If time dragged on, the morale would inevitably drop, and once that happened, the loss of the Manufacturing Bureau would be a foregone conclusion. Thinking of this, Fang Zida ordered his staff to immediately send a telegram to Shanghai, requesting the Shanghai Army to continue holding out and defending, promising a reward of 10,000 yuan if they could hold on to the Manufacturing Bureau.

  It's still two hours until 7:30, and the sky in the east has gradually brightened. Fang Zidao, who had been anxious earlier, finally felt at ease and sat down after receiving the news.

  After a busy night, I didn't realize my stomach was a bit hungry until I relaxed. Let Zhang Huichen get some porridge for everyone, and I drank two big bowls with salted duck eggs.

  "It's still Commander Huang's doing! Strategizing in the tent, winning a thousand miles away." As he drank his porridge, Huang Kaiyuan didn't forget to flatter him a few times. When the 31st Regiment arrived in Shanghai, this "old commander" of the 31st Regiment would also gain face, wouldn't he? By the time the greater Shanghai area was under the control of the Eighth Division, no matter what, this regimental commander's benefits would not be lacking.

  Smiling and being humble for a few sentences, Fang Zidao suddenly looked at Huang Kaiyuan, this flattering guy who was actually quite pleasing to the eye sometimes, and couldn't help but chat with him. Just as everyone in the house was having a great time, a staff officer suddenly came running in, shouting "Something's happened! Something's happened!"

  "What's going on? What happened? Has the Shanghai manufacturing bureau fallen?" The people present changed their expressions, and Fang Zida stood up suddenly, hastily asking.

  "Not... it's not the Ministry of Manufacture..." The aide ran up, panting heavily and speaking in a loud gasp. Upon hearing that it wasn't the Ministry of Manufacture that had an incident, everyone temporarily put their minds at ease, but before they could even wonder what big thing had happened, the aide continued with what he was saying.

  "Zhang... Zhang Xun's troops suddenly occupied Xuzhou City, and a regiment stationed in Xuzhou was completely annihilated. Now... now Zhang Xun is leading his army southward, directly to Nanjing..."

  "What?!" Everyone who heard the news couldn't believe their ears, Zhang Xun suddenly occupied Xuzhou? And even marched towards Nanjing? This... how is this possible? The 8th Division is now directly under the Ministry of War, doesn't Zhang Xun know that? Where did he get the audacity to enter Jiangsu and attack the garrison of the 8th Division? Does he want to rebel?

  "Nonsense! What crime is it to falsely report military information? You little brat, how many heads do you have?" Wang Xiaozhuang was so anxious that he grabbed the collar of the staff officer's uniform and asked with red eyes. A regiment stationed in Xuzhou was Wang Xiaozhuang's old unit, and when he heard that his own unit had been completely annihilated, he suddenly became frantic.

  "General Wang... how dare I lie about military information... this... is really true!"

  "When was it? Tell me! Hurry up and tell me!"

  "Yesterday afternoon."

  "Why report now?" Wang Xiaozhong was furious, his face red with rage, and he thundered.

  "I... I just found out too......" The staff officer's face was full of innocence, which made Wang Xiaozhong so angry that he let go of his hand and stomped his foot, his face turning iron-blue.

  "Go and find out what's going on, quickly! Quickly!" Fang Zida was also startled by this sudden unexpected event, and he hastily shouted to his aide-de-camp. After the aide-de-camp hurriedly left, he stood there dazed for a moment, then turned around and rushed out as well.

  "What's going on? Zhang Xun? Isn't he the second army? How can he come to Jiangsu to fight us? This... this is like a flood destroying the Dragon King Temple! This... how can this be good?" Upon hearing this news, Huang Kaiyuan became flustered and paced back and forth in the room, muttering to himself. The others were also at a loss, unable to understand what was happening.

  Shanghai, the battle outside the Manufacturing Bureau was fierce, Chen Qimei led his troops to attack all night but still couldn't break through. The entrance of the Manufacturing Bureau was piled up with corpses and blood flowed like a river. In this one night, his three regiments took turns attacking dozens of times, sacrificing hundreds of lives, but the Manufacturing Bureau in front of them remained unmoved.

  "Commander, retreat... retreat... The casualties among our brothers in front are too great. If we continue to fight, we will all be buried here." Another charge was repelled, and the battalion commander, who had been a subordinate of Chen Qimei's in the past, had one arm shot off by machine guns and half his body covered in blood as he bitterly implored Chen Qimei.

  "Retreat?" Chen Qimei, dressed in his general's uniform, coldly smiled at the battalion commander who had gone through life and death with him: "This general has said before, whoever dares to mention retreat will have their head chopped off by me. Do you think my knife is not fast enough?"

  "Commander! It's not that the brothers didn't try their best, but the enemy's firepower is too strong, it's really impossible to take them down! Commander, you want to chop off our heads, we absolutely have no second thoughts, but... this battle can't be fought like this, it shouldn't be fought like this!" The company commander was so scared that his face turned white, and he knelt in front of Chen Qimei, tearfully pleading with him.

  Looking at this loyal old subordinate, Chen Qimei's hand holding the knife tightened involuntarily, but finally relaxed. He let out a long sigh and said: "Do you know what it means to fail to take down the manufacturing bureau? Now that we have come this far, we must attack, whether we want to or not! Only by taking down the manufacturing bureau can we secure Shanghai! I know our casualties are heavy, but aren't the enemy's casualties just as severe? Those few hundred soldiers of theirs blocked my 3,000-strong army for an entire night; now they probably don't have many men left either. Let's make one final push and we'll surely take down the manufacturing bureau! Advance! Give me advance! Attack! Keep attacking! If the soldiers in front die, then you as the company commander will go up, if you die then the battalion commander will go up, if the battalion commander dies then the regimental commander will go up, and if the regimental commander also dies then I'll personally lead the charge! Hmph! I don't believe it, this bone is that hard to gnaw?"

  "Governor......"

  "Go! After we take down the manufacturing bureau, I'll treat you to a celebratory drink!" Chen Qimei said coldly.

  "Yes!" Seeing that persuasion was useless, Lian Zhang's eyes dimmed, and he slowly stood up. He looked back at the battlefield where flames were soaring into the sky, his body slightly trembling. Suddenly, he let out a deafening roar: "Brothers! They won't be able to hold on for much longer! Revolutionary soldiers! Follow me in the charge!"

  "Charge!"