Chapter 9: Battle Deployment

  As soon as Yuan Shijiang led the main force of the battalion out of the sorghum field, he saw the fluttering flag of Huaxia on the highest building in the town.

  "Send a telegram to the division headquarters." After listening to Lang Yiwu's report on the battle results and seeing the bodies of the Japanese Righteous Brave Corps members lined up by the roadside, Yuan Shijiang proudly told the communication soldier: "Our troops have occupied Dongyang Bridge as ordered... annihilated 170 Japanese defenders... our casualties are over 60 people..." Yuan Shijiang really understood how to be an official, exaggerating the battle results and casualties tenfold before anything had even happened. The communication soldier was busy for half a day before reporting: "Lieutenant Colonel! We can't get in touch with division headquarters!"

  Yuan Shijiang's head buzzed with a "ding" sound: Got it! White lies didn't work, can't get in touch now.

  They drove to the north of the bridge and saw Cheng Ziqiang wiping his sweat, with a cloth wrapped around his waist, writing something on a hardcover file folder. Yuan Shijiang hurriedly asked the driver to drive over and stop, asking: "What's wrong? Did you get into trouble?"

  Cheng Zi Qiang forced a wry smile and said: "Bullets are flying everywhere, it's inevitable."

  Yuan Shijiang jumped out of the car and said: "Now we're in trouble, can't get in touch with the division headquarters."

  Cheng Ziqiang handed over his own hardcover folder and said, "When fighting, the soldiers can't be allowed to idle around, otherwise there will be trouble. Please issue an order, Lieutenant Colonel."

  "Alright." Yuan Shijiang took over the file folder and looked at it, frowning and asked Cheng Ziqiang: "Is it really that serious?"

  Cheng Ziqiang nodded, pointing to the bridge and said: "This bridge is the only one within tens of kilometers that can pass cars. Since this morning, almost all our military strongholds and strategic departments have been shelled, but here not only was it not shelled, on the contrary, there are people defending it. This is enough to show that the Japanese army attaches great importance to this bridge, and at the same time, it also shows that the Japanese are not just making a fuss this time. My lieutenant colonel, war has really come."

  Yuan Shijiang was a true fearless ignoramus, he sneered: "Fortunately I brought a lot of explosives. If we really can't hold on, let's just blow the damn thing up."

  Cheng Ziqiang smiled and shook his head, saying: "There is a radio hidden in the toll station's duty room, from which we can get a lot of information about the Japanese army. According to previous telegram records, two hours later, a row of Japanese infantry will come to take over this bridge. I have dispatched a reconnaissance team to the front and organized defense, but there are not enough people, so the main force of the regiment must be put in now."

  Yuan Shijiang said: "No problem, I'll give the order right away. It's just that with regards to organizational arrangements, you'll have to put in more effort, I don't understand anything about it."

  Chung Tzu-chiang said: "Our troops' combat effectiveness is very poor. If we don't get reinforcements, we won't be able to win the next battle."

  Yuan Shijiang said with a big smile: "I don't see what the problem is, we have you, a veteran of the European war. Besides, it's not necessarily that we'll lose, if our regiment can't do it, there's still the division, and if the division can't, there's still Marshal Feng in the four eastern provinces."

  Cheng Ziqiang smiled and handed a piece of paper to Yuan Shijiang, saying: "The situation obtained from the enemy radio station just now is that the Kita detachment, which came to take over Dongyang Bridge, encountered part of the 17th Division of the Huaxia Army on the way. They suffered heavy casualties, and according to the analysis of the captured materials, this unit should be a part of the headquarters of the 17th Division. Alas... it seems that the 17th Division is finished."

  "No wonder I couldn't get in touch with Master Shi just now!" Yuan Shijiang suddenly realized. "Then what should we do?"

  Cheng Ziqiang smiled and said, "If I were you, I would be in a dilemma. Defend it, and failure is only a matter of time. Withdraw, and who knows, maybe you'll be made the scapegoat. Choose for yourself."

  What surprised Jingzi was that Yuan Shijiang, this country bumpkin, unexpectedly said without hesitation: "Qiu Mao, of course we'll defend it to the death. Even if we die, we'll still be men. What's the point of running away?"

  Cheng Zi Qiang sighed: "I really don't know how to evaluate you, but if you can survive, you will be a good soldier."

  Yuan Shijiang said with some embarrassment: "Don't mention this, I'm not good at anything in this life, and being a military officer is also quite useless. How about you? Are you willing to stay and help me? If you really want to leave, I won't stop you. After all, you're not a real Huaxia soldier. But I have one request, if you must go, please do so quietly, and if anyone sees you, just say that I sent you on a mission, I'm afraid of causing unrest in the army."

  Two men were talking, Lang Yiwu walked over, seemingly wanting to report something, but before he could speak, Yuan Shijiang pointed at the sparse soldiers busy on both banks and said: "We are a bit short-handed now, if there are any fleeing soldiers coming down later, you'd better play your role as a constable and intercept more people."

  Lang Yiwu said, "Yes." He thought the lieutenant colonel was quite interesting and added, "We also caught several Hua Xia employees and some Japanese family members. What do you think we should do with them? Some of my brothers want to execute those employees as traitors."

  Yuan Shijiang said: "Nonsense! Many people work for the Japanese, are they all traitors? Normally, aren't you all trying to get into foreign companies by any means necessary? Now you know what patriotism is? If it weren't for Ziqiang leading you guys in a fight, I'm afraid you'd all be deserters!"

  Lang Yiwu said with difficulty: "That's got to be handled somehow, now the situation is like this, all brothers are hiding their anger."

  Cheng Ziqiang chimed in from the side, "Then punish them by making them grind cannonballs! Our mortars can't use 82MM shells, right? Take those few Japanese devils' family members and make them do it too. Keep a close eye on them, just don't let them self-destruct... Hmm... When intercepting deserters, do the same thing. If they're not willing to stay, arrange for them to dig fortifications. Once they've dug enough earth and rocks, give them a road pass and let them leave... A forced melon isn't sweet, after all... Leaving them behind would just be a burden."

  Yuan Shijiang patted his head and said, "Ziqiang has indeed seen the world." He looked up to see Lang Yiweng standing there and asked, "Why haven't you gone to take care of things yet? We don't have much time left."

  Lang Yiwu stammered: "Commander, there's something else. This morning the Japanese devils wreaked havoc on the town, killing over 20 ordinary people. They also raped several young women. Earlier we captured some Japanese women, didn't we? Some brothers were so angry that they...they took it out on them..."

  Yuan Shijiang didn't take it seriously and just laughed: "You're a military policeman, don't you know how to handle this?"

  Lang Yiwu said with difficulty: "It's just not easy to handle, even if it's a woman from the East, we can't do things that violate military honor, but now that we need people... those few brothers are still good at fighting..."

  Yuan Shijiang turned around and asked Cheng Ziqiang: "How did you originally handle this matter?"

  Cheng Ziqiang smiled and said: "I've never encountered such a thing before, let's just let the captain take charge of the situation."

  Yuan Shijiang thought for a few seconds, then waved his hand and said: "Forget it, forget it. Arrange for them to be vanguard or put them in the first trench. If they can survive, their crimes will be pardoned. They won't get any rewards even if they make achievements. That's final."

  Lang Yiwu smiled and bowed, then turned to attend to his duties. As he walked away, he thought to himself: "When faced with such a difficult situation, one can only rely on someone as simple-minded as him to come up with a solution."

  Lang Yiwu walked away, and Cheng Ziqiang smiled at Yuan Shijiang, saying: "You really have a way with you, I wouldn't have thought of this method."

  Yuan Shijiang also smiled and said: "Turning 82mm cannonballs into 81mm ones, I couldn't have thought of this idea either... but will it really work?"

  Cheng Ziqiang nodded affirmatively and said: "It's okay, we did this during the European War, but the precision of the ground cannonballs was a bit worse."

  Yuan Shijiang: "It's just a little worse, but it's better than nothing... That matter of blowing up the bridge..."

  Cheng Ziqiang said: "Hand it over to me. Just a lieutenant colonel, you have to send all the soldiers who used to be engineers and those who understand bombs to me now, I'll take care of the specifics."

  Yuan Shijiang said: "No problem, I'll pick someone for you right away."