Volume 1: First Battle Chapter 7: Desperate Situation

  Fighting sometimes is about wisdom and courage!

  As soon as I said that, everyone in the conference room turned their eyes to me. Xu Lianchang, somewhat flustered and exasperated, glared at me and scolded in a low voice: "How dare you, who allowed you to speak out of turn..."

  "Eh! Let him speak..." Tong Lin Ge interrupted Xu Lian Chang's words, looking at me with some doubt and asked: "This is......"

  "Report, Deputy Commander!" Xu Lianzhang hastily stood up and replied: "He was the first to realize that the two wing troops had withdrawn. His name is Fangxiang, a platoon leader under my command!"

  "Hmm!" Upon hearing this, Tong Lin Ge took two steps closer to me and said with an encouraging gaze: "Young brother, don't have any worries, just speak your mind!"

  I've read some modern materials about Tong Lin Ge, and I know he's always been known for his tolerance towards others, earning him the nickname "Tong Shan Ren" (Good Man Tong) among the entire 29th Army. Now it seems that reputation is well-deserved; as a deputy army commander, he's being so polite to me, just a small platoon leader...

  "Vice General!" I calmed myself down and then asked Tong Lin Ge: "May I ask the Chief of Staff a few questions?"

  "Hmm, go ahead and ask!" Tong Lin Ge nodded with interest.

  "Excuse me, Chief of Staff!" After getting Tong Lin's permission, I stood up in front of the map and asked the Chief of Staff: "I don't know... have you detected when the troops on my two flanks withdrew?"

  "Of course!" The chief of staff smiled indifferently: "The two wing troops withdrew completely when the Japanese planes started bombing, it's been more than two hours since then!"

  "Ask the Chief of Staff again!" I asked again: "How fast is the Japanese army's marching speed?"

  "Generally speaking..." The Chief of Staff hesitated for a moment before answering: "If it's a forced march, we can cover thirty kilometers in one day."

  I smiled easily and asked the last question: "Then why have two hours passed, and the Japanese army has not completely surrounded our army until now?"

  The Chief of Staff was stunned by my question, and the other officers in the conference room were initially confused, but soon erupted into a "hubbub" of noise.

  "Right!" Tong Lin Ge clenched his fist and said, "The 9th Cavalry Regiment and the 132nd Regiment withdrew two hours ago, but the Japanese army has not yet surrounded our troops. This is too unreasonable!"

  "Vice General!" someone stood up and said: "Could it be that the Japanese army is worried that our army has an ambush, so they are marching slowly..."

  "No, no, no..." Tong Lin Ge shook his head in denial: "The Japanese army has always been extremely arrogant and doesn't put our military in their sights, so they absolutely won't slow down their speed for this reason..."

  "That is..."

  "Let this little brother speak instead!" Tong Lin Ge turned his gaze towards me.

  "Yes!" I was somewhat taken aback, but now that the military situation is urgent, I didn't stand on ceremony either. So, with three steps in two, I walked up to the map and said: "As the Chief of Staff just said, the Japanese army has arranged a regiment in front of us, with one battalion on each flank for encirclement, but only left the road to Beiping unblocked, why is that?"

  I paused for a moment and continued: "Our army made the Japanese army suffer in battle, making them not dare to take us lightly. If I were the Japanese commander... what would I do? I would first set up an ambush on the road leading to Beiping, then pretend to surround us, even frequently mobilize tanks to put pressure on the enemy and force them to retreat... Then, on the enemy's retreat route, we would attack from both front and back, and without much effort, we could defeat the enemy!"

  "Boom!" My words were like a bombshell that set the entire conference room in an uproar. Xu Lian's mouth was agape, staring at me with some incredulity, Tong Lin Ge nodded his head in approval, while the Chief of Staff beside me nervously took off his glasses and wiped away cold sweat...

  "Zhang Yuan, what's your view?" Tong Lin Ge asked the chief of staff.

  "Deputy Chief of Staff...” The chief of staff glanced at me, pushed his glasses and replied: "The road to Beiping is full of high embankments everywhere, it's not easy to hide a few tanks in it, let alone ambush an army. Moreover, most of our troops are new recruits, it's hard for them to maintain order during the retreat, once they encounter an ambush... The consequences will be unthinkable! So... I think Captain Fang's analysis is very... reasonable!"

  As he spoke, he involuntarily took off his hat again and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away the cold sweat that had seeped onto his forehead.

  "Good rascal!" Tong Lin Ge laughed instead of getting angry: "I, Tong, almost fell for your trap, fortunately, Fang Piao Long reminded me, otherwise we would have likely ended up in a disastrous defeat. This is also heaven sparing me!"

  As he spoke, he patted me on the shoulder and said: "Director Fang, I, Tong, represent the thousands of soldiers from top to bottom in the military training team to express our gratitude to you!"

  "How dare you!" I became somewhat unnatural, to be honest, I was actually more concerned about my own life, as for the lives and deaths of these historical figures in front of me... I didn't seem to need to care too much.

  "Director Fang is great!" The chief of staff also chimed in, cupping his hands: "In vain I've been making plans for the deputy commander, this time we almost made a huge mistake. If Director Fang hadn't reminded us, Wu would have become a sinner for eternity! Director Fang's strategic thinking is like Zhuge Liang reborn, Wu is willing to concede!"

  At this time, I couldn't help but laugh and cry, actually I was very clear that I didn't have any deep plans or far-reaching ideas, all I had were some historical knowledge. If I wanted to, I could even say that the location of the Japanese army's ambush was at the Great Red Gate, and the commander was a lieutenant general who often came and went with the 29th Army...

  But of course I wouldn't be foolish enough to say all these out loud, otherwise they would think I'm a Japanese spy rather than calling me "as wise and far-sighted as Zhuge Liang reborn".

  "Deputy army commander, chief of staff!" At this time, an officer stood up and said: "If it's really like what Fang said, then haven't we already been surrounded by the little devils? What should our next step be? We can't retreat, we can't fight, and there's no one to reinforce us... Can't just stay here waiting for death!"

  Before he had finished speaking, everyone was stunned. What the officer said was right. Although we have now seen through the Japanese conspiracy and guessed their deployment, we still cannot untie this knot.

  Die on guard?

  Without mentioning that the Japanese army is everywhere, without mentioning that the Japanese army has tanks, artillery and planes, even if we hold out like now, in just two days we will have no way to retreat due to running out of ammunition and food.

  Break through the encirclement?

  Others may not know the situation, but I do know that the riverbank troops used by the Japanese army to set up an ambush had 7,000 or 8,000 people, all of whom were well-equipped and could be called elite soldiers. It's not easy to break through their encirclement...

  "Vice General!" After a long silence, a voice trembled and said: "Why don't... we make peace with the Japanese..."

  "Three camps!" Tong Lin Ge coldly hummed, interrupting the officer's words: "Don't mention this matter again, otherwise don't blame me, Tong, for being impolite!"

  The room fell silent in an instant, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. I couldn't help but feel a sense of surprise, never expecting that Tong Lin Ge, known as "a good person", also had a bad side to him.

  However, this seems to be understandable as well. Any intelligent person can tell that what Zhang is saying about "making peace with the Japanese" is actually a euphemism for surrender. Without mentioning how much damage such remarks would do to the morale of the troops if they spread, history has shown that Tong Lin Ge would rather die than surrender, so whether from the perspective of the troops or personal conviction, Tong Lin Ge will not accept this "suggestion".

  "Why don't we just fight it out with the little devils!" Not long after, someone else stood up and shouted: "Damn it, killing one is like killing one, killing two is like making a pair!"

  "Right! Let's fight it out with those little devils, anyway we'll all be dead!"

  ……

  There are still many people who support this voice, but this is undoubtedly another extreme.

  This is actually telling me a piece of information, that all these officers have lost hope and feel there's no way out, but I don't think so!

  "Vice General..." I turned around and said in a low voice to Tong Lin Ge: "I actually have a way, but..."

  As he spoke, he swept his eyes around the conference room.

  "Hmm!" Tong Lin Ge was also a clever person, and he quickly understood my meaning. He immediately turned to the other officers and said: "Everyone, please calm down for a moment. I have something to ask Fang Pai Zhang, please wait for a moment!"

  As he spoke, he gave Wu Zongliang a wink and led me into the adjacent office.

  "Commander Fang!" As soon as he entered the house, Tong Lin Ge bowed his hands and said: "The lives of over 5,000 soldiers in the training team are now in Commander Fang's hands. If we can successfully escape this time, no matter what requirements you have, I, Tong, will definitely do my best to fulfill them for Commander Fang!"

  "Vice General, you're being too polite!" I hastily replied: "As a soldier, it's only natural for me to serve the party and country, not to mention that this also concerns my own life, how dare I make demands of Vice General?"

  "Alright!" Tong Lin Ge nodded and said: "Then I, Tong, would be petty to say more. The military situation is urgent, what method does Fang Pai Zhang have to break through the encirclement?"

  "It's very simple!" I said, pointing at the map on the table: "Take the road back to Beiping!"

  "Return to Beiping?" Tong Lin Ge looked at me with a puzzled expression and said: "What about the ambush..."

  "Meet a god and kill a god! Meet a Buddha and kill a Buddha!" That's my answer.

  Tong Lin Ge couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, he sighed and said: "Our army's equipment, manpower, and quality are far inferior to those of the Japanese army, I'm afraid..."

  "We're not inferior in terms of equipment!" I interrupted Tong Lin's words and replied: "Nor are we inferior in military strength and quality!"

  "Not comparing equipment? Nor is it military strength and quality?" Tong Lin Ge was somewhat perplexed: "Then what are we comparing?"

  "More wisdom! More courage!"

  Fighting sometimes is about wisdom and courage!