Chapter Twelve: Family and Country

  Gunfire and cannons blared, intense explosions boomed all around, billows of smoke rose in the fiery light, countless trajectories streaked across the night sky, the earth shook, people screamed, but I couldn't make a sound...

  A sudden jolt finally woke me up, and I found myself still lying on the guest room bed in the government mansion. It was already noon. The war is getting closer and closer, but all kinds of preparations are still far from being ready...

  "Little brother is tired, come and let third sister take a look."

  I lowered my head and wolfed down my food, "It's Third Sister, wait for me to finish eating first."

  "It's rare to see someone eating like this, haha!"

  I looked up and exclaimed: "Wild goose!?" And was stunned for a moment.

  The cloud goose stared at my awkward appearance and couldn't help but laugh.

  The third sister also smiled: "How is it?"

  "Yunyan, how did you come? Could it be Sanjie?"

  "Hmm, Yunyan is someone I invited over, such a lovely and good girl, why didn't you bring her home earlier?"

  "She won't, will she."

  "This time I agree!"

  "Haha!"

  "Don't be silly, I want to invite our family members to gather together and meet with Yuyan, what do you think?"

  "Probably won't come, will she?"

  "It's up to you now! How about it? Want to give it a try?"

  "Third sister, you clearly know second sister will definitely not meet the chairman, why bother."

  "If you also don't believe it, then let's ask Ziwen about it, how are we siblings and cousins?"

  "That should be no problem, I can give it a try."

  "Well, I won't disturb you then." The third sister smiled and turned around, casually closing the door behind her.

  "Cloud Goose."

  "What?"

  I tightly grasped Yunyan's hand, but why didn't I feel nervous? Seeing that she didn't refuse, I took a deep breath, cultivated my feelings a bit more, and added some courage. Sincerely, I said: "Yunyan, will you marry me?"

  Yunyan opened her beautiful big eyes, gazing straight at me, softly reciting: "In this era about to be ravaged by war, we hand in hand, go to greet the baptism of gunfire for the revival of our nation... Can we?"

  Looking at this familiar face, I blurted out: "No way."

  "You're busy with your great career, my sister is busy with her great career, what am I doing? Being a bodyguard for you?"

  It's all over, the atmosphere has been completely ruined!

  "Want to learn some from me?"

  "What am I learning? Military engineering? Although I play with guns, I don't like making weapons. Strategy? Battles? What am I starting to learn now? Learning at an old age?"

  "How old are you?" "Hehe!" I laughed and said, "Let me think, if I didn't predict wrongly, our committee chairman will soon appoint me as his senior advisor, and then I'll mix with Mr. Bai and the others; most of them are strategic experts, but not as good at new combat methods, 'Combat Goddess', would you like to show off?"

  "You're kidding me!"

  "It's not a joke, the overall tactics (grand tactics) in our troops is a big weakness; often each unit and even each squad closes its doors to make their own cars, each doing their own thing, making it difficult for them to communicate with each other, resulting in the troops being tactically backward in most aspects. You saw this when you were at Xiangshan too, right? As a small secret of the Chief of Staff, let me show you how it is?"

  "Little secretary? Ha! Dream on! I'll go find Madam and get myself a high-ranking position!"

  Yunyan went to find Sanjie, I was just tidying up, and before I could finish Yunyan rushed in.

  "Something's wrong, something's wrong! That German advisor is coming in a rage, demanding to see you!" Before I could even react, I was hit with another punch.

  "Fakehausen is here, I'm going to see him." Adjusting his clothes: "Come on, let's encourage him, haha!!" Another flying fist comes, I dodge.

  The small living room of the official residence.

  "It is an honor to have General Falkenhausen condescend to our humble abode."

  "Mr. Song Zian, we meet again." Falkenhausen still had a stiff face, turned his head slightly and bowed: "If possible, please ask the lady to step aside."

  "Since General insists." Third sister smiled and took out a file bag in front of me, leading the entourage to exit the living room.

  As soon as the door was closed, Falkenhausen couldn't wait to say: "Let's get straight to the point!"

  I smiled: "Get straight to the point." Just as I was about to open the file bag, my hand stopped in mid-air.

  "The first thing, last month I submitted to the Chairman of the Committee a proposal on countermeasures against the current situation, with the theme that Japan is the most serious and direct threat to China."

  Falkenhausen pulled out a document and read from it: "The North China Incident shows how Japanese military policy is being carried out. This kind of policy falls within the scope of the Tanaka Memorial, and Japanese newspapers are openly declaring that 'occupying the north bank of the Yellow River, including the entire province of Shandong' is their goal for now and in the future. Then Shanxi Province and the whole of North China will inevitably fall into enemy hands."

  (A historical fact, the original text presented by General von Falkenhausen to Chiang Kai-shek in August 1935.)

  "I think this is Japan's long-standing policy, nothing strange about it."

  "In view of the gravity of this threat, I advise the Chairman to abandon his illusions and offer determined resistance to Japan. The previous North China incident was a result of China's one-sided concessions and Japan's empty intimidation. Therefore, both the government and leaders must have an unyielding will, and there is no alternative but to resist rather than surrender to enemy demands. In the current international situation, it is impossible for countries to intervene jointly or individually. The only thing China can do is to abandon its illusions, exert all its efforts, and fight to preserve its national territory."

  "General, I completely agree with your point of view."

  "In this situation, the consultant has formulated a combat plan for North China for your army, preparing to establish two group armies in Hebei and Shanxi to take on the main responsibility of resisting the Japanese army, and organizing two independent corps in Shandong and Suiyuan to take on secondary responsibilities. This is the predetermined deployment and sequence list for each group army and corps; specific details can still be negotiated."

  "General, what does this mean?"

  "Mr. Chairman, General He and all the generals I have met with think this plan is impractical! They are just humoring me. I came to China with the intention of helping you wholeheartedly, but now even Generals Chiang and Yang do not think my plan is feasible!"

  "So General, what do you want me for? I'm just a humble deputy director of the Arsenal."

  Fakenhausen suddenly laughed, I was startled and almost jumped up! Seeing him pointing at the file bag in my hand, I opened it accordingly: "Appointment letter? The chairman of the committee appointed me as his senior advisor?"

  "You were appointed by Chairman Chiang as a senior staff officer of the Military Affairs Commission, in charge of liaison with me! So I specially came back to Nanjing to look for you!"

  I almost burst out in a loud scolding, what a ridiculous thing!

  "Bring your plan here and let me see it!" I said with a wry smile, seeing no way out.

  "Don't use national conditions or internal struggles to shirk responsibility! China has reached a critical juncture of life and death, and no longer has the qualification to consider internal strife!"

  "The general is right, I think you also left the chairman's side and returned to Nanjing for this reason?"

  "Hmm."

  I glanced through the plan book and sighed again: "General Falkenhausen, forgive me for speaking straight, this plan of yours is simply impossible to fully implement. Even if we manage to barely complete the deployment, in actual combat it will quickly lead to a crushing defeat!"

  "Give me a reason that will satisfy me! Otherwise..."

  "General, first of all, the current situation is that the Ping-Jin line has become the first line of defense in northern China. The central government's control over Song Zheyuan's troops is very limited, and they are adopting a slippery policy of playing both sides between the government and the Japanese side. They will not make large-scale preparations for defensive warfare. If the central army were to go north as you said, they would only be perfunctory and might even betray us! Moreover, Hebei is a flat plain, and even if we retreat to Baoding, Qingzhou or even Cangzhou to build our main defense line, it will still be difficult to resist the Japanese army's large-scale attack on the plain. No matter how our troops are deployed and prepared for defense, I think most of Hebei will fall quickly! Throwing our main force into the Hebei plain would only mean sending them to their deaths!"

  Second, the Shanxi garrison is Yan Xishan's troops, with even less central control, and are also opportunistic fence-sitters! Now that the Central Army has entered southern Shanxi with great difficulty, it is a result of compromise among multiple parties. What about entering central and northern Shanxi?! Although during wartime the Center can deploy some troops to support the north, perhaps temporarily holding onto most of Shanxi; but your plan is to rely on the Shanxi-Hebei border area to establish a counterattack base? To launch a counterattack against the Japanese army invading Hebei from the flank? This is another large-scale battle in the plains, and an offensive one at that! It far exceeds our military's actual combat capabilities. This is fundamentally impossible!

  Third, the Suiyuan garrison is under Fu Zuoyi, a general under Yan Xishan. It's said that he now has differences with Yan and the Central Government is trying to win him over, but his forces are small in scale and cannot bear heavy responsibilities. As for your plan, General, you want to reinforce by transferring troops from the Northwest? You've been in China long enough, haven't you? Don't you know that most of the Northwestern troops also can't be easily mobilized by the Central Government?

  Fourth, Shandong is the same, Han Fuju's Northwestern Army will also ignore the central government's orders. If the Japanese launch a small-scale attack, they will fight to protect their base; if the Japanese launch a large-scale attack, they will definitely flee immediately!

  "General, under the current situation, it is impossible for the Central Government to deploy its main forces from Central China to the North China battlefield. The war against Japan in North China can only rely on the existing garrison troops, and at most, after the outbreak of war, about 10 divisions of reinforcements controlled by the Central Government will be added. The main battlefield must be Shanxi."

  Fakenhausen looked at me silently and said: "General Jiang Baili also means this."

  "What did you come to me for?"

  "But I know you must have other plans, you just aren't telling me!"

  "Sorry, no comment!"

  "I am the General's Chief Advisor!"

  "Although I personally trust the general absolutely, even if I had just proposed to my beloved I could tell you; but for content that has not been approved by the chairman, all I can say is sorry!"

  Falkenhausen suddenly laughed again, startling me once more.

  "Mr. Song, congratulations! Although you will soon be wearing a general's uniform, I really don't think you can be considered a military man!"

  "Hehe, I'm a businessman, an entrepreneur, a bureaucrat..." In my heart, I silently added another sentence: "And also a mysterious time-traveler."

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