Chapter Thirty-Six: Farewell, Du Qianxue!

  Everyone stood up, and they saw Zhang Zhongjing walking in with a straight military uniform, his tall figure looking majestic.

  "Attention!" An instructor led the way with a crisp salute.

  Zhang Xinghan and other students also hastily stood up straight and saluted.

  "Attention!" The instructor shouted loudly again.

  General Zhang Zhizhong, who was already standing on the podium, raised his hands to signal everyone to sit down, and then said with deep meaning: "Comrades, after more than half a year of hard training and study! You have made great progress, which is evident to both me and your instructors! However, you are still far from becoming qualified military officers! You still have much to learn! Much to be tempered! Now, I declare that the fourth phase of practical training for the 10th batch of students at the Central Military Academy has officially begun. The instructor will now distribute the unit numbers to you."

  General Zhang Zhi-zhong had barely finished speaking when several instructors began distributing a stack of documents to the crowd.

  General Zhang Zhizhong looked at the crowd with a stern expression and said, "Inside, there are specific numbers and locations of the troops you will be assigned to. This exercise is a very important military training assessment! I hope that all of you will be humble and learn from your seniors in the army, and strive to improve your own abilities!"

  "Yes!" The crowd took over the materials and responded in unison.

  Zhang Xinghan opened the documents in his hand and clearly saw that he was a probationary lieutenant of the 3rd Company, 2nd Battalion, 524th Regiment, 262th Brigade, 88th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, temporarily holding the rank of junior lieutenant.

  Upon seeing this information, Zhang Xinghan couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. The unit he was about to join for training was none other than the 88th Division, which was one of the elite units of the National Army at that time. It was well-known that the 88th and 87th Divisions were reorganized from the original First and Second Guards Divisions under Chiang Kai-shek's command.

  What surprised Zhang Xinghan was that it just so happened that he was assigned not only to the 88th Division, but also to the 262nd Regiment of the 524th Brigade.

  Anyone with a little historical knowledge knows that the 524th Regiment became famous in the Shanghai-Hangzhou War and is an iron-clad anti-Japanese hero regiment.

  The 524th Regiment's battle of fame was the Battle of Shanghai, where over 400 officers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 524th Regiment, led by Deputy Regimental Commander Colonel Xie Jin-yuan (who was later betrayed and killed, posthumously promoted to Lieutenant General by the National Government), defended the Four Banks Warehouse on the north bank of the Suzhou River. Under the leadership of Colonel Xie Jin-yuan, the officers and soldiers fought bravely for four days and nights, repelling the Japanese army that outnumbered them several times, killing and wounding hundreds of Japanese soldiers.

  The four-line warehouse battle, Xie Jin Yuan and the officers and soldiers of the 524th Regiment fought bloody battles, fighting out the dignity of Chinese soldiers, and were praised by the people at that time as the Eight Hundred Heroes!

  However, this is a later story, and for now Xie Jin Yuan was still the Chief of Staff of the 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division.

  Zhang Xinghan didn't say anything and looked a bit stunned.

  Next to him, Zhao De Sheng elbowed Zhang Xing Han and asked: "Hey, Xing Han, which division were you assigned to?"

  "What about you, 88th Division?" Zhang Xinghan asked casually.

  "Really? I'm also from the 88th Division!" Zhao De Sheng heard this and couldn't help but ask with a smile: "I'm from the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Company of the 524th Regiment, 262nd Brigade. Which regiment are you from?"

  "We're in the same chain!" Zhang Xinghan said.

  "Really? That's great! You and I can intern together side by side! That's great!" Zhao De Sheng took the materials from Zhang Xing Han's hands, looked at them, and patted Zhang Xing Han's shoulder with joy.

  "Have you also allocated the 88th Division?" Just as the two were speaking, Sun Siwei beside Zhao Desheng asked in surprise.

  "Hmm! Is that so? How could you be too?" Zhao Desheng nodded and asked.

  "You're absolutely right! I'm also from the 88th Division, 262nd Brigade, 254th Regiment." Sun Siwei nodded with a smile.

  "This is really incredible! It's really a coincidence! No need to say more, it's good that we're together, we can take care of each other!" Zhao Desheng said.

  "Hmm! I agree!" Zhang and Sun nodded in unison.

  ……

  The next day, the tenth batch of recruits from the Central Military Academy rushed to report to their respective divisions.

  At that time, the 87th Division was stationed in Jiangyin and Zhenjiang areas, the 36th Division guarded Wuxi, and the 88th Division, as the garrison of Nanjing, was stationed near Nanjing, with troops both inside and outside the city.

  So Zhang Xinghan and two others directly reported to the 88th Division after which they were immediately dispatched to the 262nd Brigade's 254th Regiment for internship.

  The defensive patrol area of the 254th Brigade was Nanjing City. After taking office, Zhang Xinghan, Zhao Desheng and Sun Siwei's daily tasks were to follow the regular exercises of the troops and to lead the team in patrolling the streets.

  Half a month had passed, and Zhang Xinghan, Zhao Desheng, and Sun Siwei were leading their team on patrol as usual. As they walked through a bustling street, they suddenly saw a man and a woman arguing and pulling each other in the middle of the road.

  "Let me go! Can't you hear? I'm telling you to let me go!" A woman struggled and shouted at the man who was holding her arm.

  Zhang Xinghan was startled by the quarrel between the two, and he turned his head while lighting a cigarette, only to see a young woman with her back to him, seemingly arguing with a man.

  "Go, take a look!" Zhang Xinghan took a deep drag on his cigarette and said. He immediately strode forward with big steps.

  Zhao Desheng and Sun Siwei hastily led their troops in close pursuit.

  "What's going on?" A faint blue second-hand smoke floated out of Zhang Xinghan's nostrils, and he asked loudly.

  The two people who were arguing looked at Zhang Xinghan, and the young woman exclaimed in surprise: "Xinghan?"

  "Miss Du!" Zhang Xinghan exclaimed in surprise.

  "It really is you!" Du Qianxue exclaimed with joy.

  "Hmm! What's going on? How did you end up here?" Zhang Xinghan asked.

  "I've been transferred to work in the Communications Department of Fuxing Society's Special Affairs Division, just nearby!" Du Qianshuo replied.

  "Who is he?" Zhang Xinghan asked with a glance.

  "I don't know him, he's always bothering me, he's so annoying!" Du Qianxue glanced at the man beside her and leaned in closer to Zhang Xinghan.

  "Miss Du! How can you say you don't know me?" The man beside her seemed somewhat anxious, but looking at Zhang Xinghan in his military uniform and the group of fierce-looking soldiers standing behind him, he was a bit intimidated.

  "Who knows you? I've told you many times, I have someone I care about, don't come bothering me again." Du Qianxue said with an unpleasant tone.

  "Miss Du, you're really good at joking. Do you have a crush on someone? Who is he? Where is he? I'd like to see who dares to compete with me?" The man said with great arrogance, tilting his head back.

  "He's the one I love!" Du Qianxue suddenly grasped Zhang Xinghan's left arm, her face radiant with joy.

  Zhang Xinghan wanted to refute, but the soreness in his arm made him look at Du Qianxue's pleading eyes and he didn't refute.

  "What about him? A small little lieutenant?" The man apparently didn't take Zhang Xinghan seriously, and said nonchalantly: "If you like military men, I can be a regimental officer at any time, or even a colonel."

  Before Du Qianxue could speak, Zhang Xing opened his mouth with a cold tone: "Sir, Miss Du is my girlfriend. Please leave immediately and do not disturb her again."

  "A mere foot soldier! What's so great about you, kid? Which unit are you from? How dare you speak to me like that!" The man said with disdain.

  "I'm from the 88th Division! What's wrong with talking to you like this?" Zhang Xinghan threw away the cigarette butt in his hand and stomped it out fiercely.