Chapter 18: Summoned by Director Chiang!

  General Zhao Dengyu led the old Maozi and several soldiers to arrive at position No. 1 quickly, a soldier shouted loudly from afar: "The brigade commander has arrived!"

  Zhang Xinghan and the members of the Big Knife Squad, who were lying on the ground, quickly got up and formed two small teams under the leadership of Zhang Xinghan and Zhao Heita.

  At this time, General Zhao Dengyu walked over with a big smile on his face.

  "Mission accomplished! The 4th company of the Big Blade Squad has completed its task and now requests to return to headquarters! Salute!" Zhang Xinghan shouted loudly.

  After finishing, dozens of warriors stood up in unison and saluted with a loud "crack", each one holding their head high and chest out, sweeping away the fatigue of just now.

  "Welcome back!" General Zhao Dengyu also returned a standard military salute with a serious expression.

  "Victory! And there's more good news, this time Zhang Wazi single-handedly took down a Japanese general." General Zhao Dengyu had barely finished speaking when Squad Leader Zhao Hei Ta excitedly chimed in.

  "What? Assassinate a Japanese general?" General Zhao Dengyu was clearly shocked by the words.

  "Yes! The rank is Major General, I guess it's probably the commander of the 4th Brigade, Suzuki Yoshitsune that old devil!" Zhao Heita nodded.

  "Xing Han! Is this true?" General Zhao Dengyu asked directly.

  "Reporting back to the headquarters, this is indeed true. I not only killed a Japanese lieutenant general but also captured his officer's sword." Zhang Xinghan replied sternly.

  "Right! And there's also a general's sword." Zhao Hei Ta suddenly remembered, nodding repeatedly.

  As he spoke, Zhang Xinghan took out the captured sword and walked forward to hand it over to General Zhao Dengyu.

  After taking over the war knife, General Zhao Dengyu carefully examined it and saw that the knife was extremely sharp and had a faint chill emanating from it. On one side of the hilt was engraved "Yu Xiu" (Imperial Gift), and on the other side was engraved "Suzuki Mitomo" in Japanese characters.

  Japanese characters are largely copied from Chinese characters. To be precise, they plagiarized several radicals of Chinese characters.

  So General Zhao Dengyu was able to roughly understand the text on the hilt and figured it out after some thought.

  "Hurray! This time, you have achieved the most brilliant military merit. Since the September 18th Incident, our army has never shot and killed a Japanese officer, let alone a general. Today, you single-handedly shot and killed a Japanese major general, which is enough to make your name go down in history! I will request recognition for you from Chairman Chiang in Nanjing. You are the greatest hero of our 29th Army!" General Zhao Dengyu said with some excitement.

  "Fight! To kill the enemy and report to the country is the duty of reviving China, and I have never thought about getting promoted or rich. As long as we can beat the devils, it's all right." Zhang Xinghan said with righteous words. In fact, what he said was also his true intention, indeed, at this time when the country is in trouble and the nation is in danger, as a descendant of Yan and Huang, if one does not think about killing the enemy and reporting to the country, defending the land and guarding the border, would one still be thinking about getting promoted or rich?

  The country is gone, the family is gone, what's the use of being a high-ranking official? In front of national and ethnic interests, everything must give way.

  "No! You're wrong, Xing Han! Shooting down a Japanese general is a great achievement in itself, not something done for the sake of seeking credit. And this news, which is so uplifting to the people's spirits, can strengthen the faith of our nation's anti-Japanese military and civilians, as well as boost the morale and determination of our troops on the Great Wall front line! So, both publicly and privately, this achievement must be recognized." Zhao Dengyu said with a wave of his hand.

  "It's all up to the traveling seat!" Zhang Xinghan knew he couldn't shirk it, and indeed, the news of him shooting down a Japanese lieutenant general would surely spread like wildfire and boost morale across the country. The greatest effect would be to encourage the frontline troops' spirits and increase the National Army's confidence in fighting against Japan.

  But Zhang Xinghan and Zhao Dengyu did not know that today's move would create a leader of the anti-Japanese tiger-like elite troops on Chinese soil, starting a legendary journey of iron-blooded resistance.

  ………

  Nanjing, Military Commission Operations Department.

  Inside the combat hall, the stars gathered. This time, Chairman Chiang convened a military meeting, and the main purpose was to discuss preparations for the fifth anti-communist campaign.

  As the Kuomintang's previous attacks on the Central Soviet District had all ended in failure, Chairman Chiang has already begun preparations for a fifth encirclement.

  As for the north, which was in the midst of a fierce battle at the Great Wall, Chiang Kai-shek knew that the various units defending the Great Wall were mixed with different factions, including the Northeast Army, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, and the Central Army, making it difficult to implement unified and effective command and combat.

  Moreover, the equipment of various troops along the Great Wall was too poor, and only the 17th Army led by Xu Tingyao had slightly better equipment. However, facing the Japanese army that was armed to the teeth with planes in the sky and tanks and heavy artillery on the ground, they still felt powerless despite their strong will.

  So, Chairman Chiang understood that the Great Wall's various lines would eventually fall, and he had Zhang Xueliang resist resolutely simply to reassure the people of the whole country, letting them know that the government was resisting Japan.

  However, the biggest threat to Chiang's regime was not the Japanese, but rather within. In his view, repelling external threats required first stabilizing internal affairs, and he was actively preparing to implement this basic national defense strategy.

  As for the northern battlefield, apart from superficially encouraging various troops to fight to the death and defend the Great Wall defense line to show the government's determination to resist Japan, secretly, Chairman Chiang had already sent his trusted aide He Yingqin to Beiping to seek opportunities to negotiate with the Japanese army and sign a ceasefire agreement.

  Just as Director Chiang was eloquently and passionately indoctrinating the various department heads present with his strategy and spirit for suppressing the Communists, Chief of the Guard Wang Shi-he hastily walked in holding a telegram. After whispering a few words in his ear.

  Chiang Kai-shek was first shocked and then delighted, and asked in a low voice: "Is the news true?"

  "It's true! Before reporting to you, the Special Affairs Bureau and Shenyang Station personnel sent a secret telegram stating that as early as this morning, the Japanese Kwantung Army had reported an ultra-secret intelligence report to the General Headquarters, which included this matter." The Guard Commander Wang Shihe replied respectfully.

  "Haha! Good! Well done!" Director Chiang couldn't help but burst out laughing, and immediately said to everyone: "Everyone, the Northern Front has sent another piece of good news. A private first class from the 109th Regiment of the 37th Division killed a Japanese major general in last night's battle, which is the highest-ranking enemy commander to be killed since the September 18th Incident."

  "Chairman! This news is no less than a great victory at Xifengkou! I suggest that the Chairman should reward this person, as a model, to boost the morale of the entire army!" General Chen Cheng, commander of the 18th Army, stood up and suggested.

  At this time, Chen Cheng was highly valued by Chairman Chiang and, as a key member of the Whampoa Clique, his position in the National Government rose rapidly.

  "Hmm!" Chairman Chiang nodded and immediately instructed Wang Shih-wei: "Send a telegram to Song Zheyuan, three days later I will arrive in Baoding, let the commanders of various units who won the Battle of Xifengkou hurry to Baoding, I will personally commend them. Also, bring that private who killed the Japanese lieutenant general, what's his name?"

  "Reporting back to Your Honor! This man's name is Zhang Xinghan."

  "Oh! Take Zhang Xinghan along and go to Baoding!" Chairman Chiang nodded.

  "Yes!" Wang Shihe responded with a single word, then immediately turned around and quickly walked away.