Chapter Twenty-Two: Getting Married

  Nanjing, Chairman's Official Residence.

  "Zi'an, I've seen you browsing through war history and various unit data recently. How's it going? Do you think there are any outstanding ones among your brother-in-law's students?"

  "Sister's husband, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. The key is to play the right role in the right place. I think all of your reused students are very capable! However, I categorize them into two types: those who excel at leading the army and those who excel at fighting. In my heart, I added another sentence: that is, those who excel at eating friendly forces and those who excel at fighting enemy forces."

  "Haha! Xiao A Di's concept has always been new! Good at leading and good at fighting? You've actually separated commanding troops from fighting?"

  "Right, leading is one skill, organizing cadres, training soldiers, collecting materials and so on; fighting is another skill, understanding our situation and the enemy's situation, analyzing and judging, planning and strategizing."

  "Can't I have students who can handle both?"

  "Balancing is possible, but I don't see it yet. In the future, I also don't think balancing is good because human energy is limited, being versatile can only mean lacking depth in any one thing."

  "Hehehe! Little brother is helping sister's husband categorize things now?"

  "I just took a rough look, and most people have nothing to talk about."

  Chiang Kai-shek smiled and picked up a small booklet, asking: "Then let's talk about this small part, for example, how about Hu Zongnan?"

  Future commander-in-chief? Ha! I laughed: "Leading troops is far better than fighting."

  "How is Li Yannian?"

  Laiwu 'catching pigs' guy? "Can't tell what he's good at."

  "How about Huang Jie?"

  No memory, "can't see it either."

  Chiang Kai-shek handed the booklet to me, and I had no choice but to read it out loud: "Kuan Lin-cheng is good at fighting, Huo Ju-ping can't see clearly, Sung Hsi-lien is good at fighting, Yu Chi-tse is good at leading troops, Li T'ieh-chun can't make out, Cheng Tung-kuo is good at fighting, Li Yü-tang..."

  Fortunately, the meeting time has arrived! I finally escaped.

  This time I won't sit behind Old Chiang, it's too showy! Changing to sitting next to the shorthand miss is okay, right? Hehe!

  "The first thing is to congratulate our army on its complete victory in defeating the enemy in Shanxi! My Zhongyiang Army launched a large-scale invasion of Jin, and after a brief skirmish with the enemy, several routes of enemy troops fled back to Shaanbei in disarray!"

  Everyone applauds! I start to meditate with my eyes closed. Ha! This should be the end of one aspect of the Eastern Expedition? **With nearly 10,000 troops lost and generals killed, the Shanxi campaign is about to stop, the middle and western parts of Shanxi are in ruins, the regime has collapsed, etc., is this considered a success? However, it's not surprising that at least the Zhongyāng army successfully took advantage of the situation to occupy part of southern Shanxi. Indeed!

  "...Then we can march forward and annihilate the enemy army. Zhong Yang will be able to retake Jin Nan, what a wonderful thing!"

  Keep applauding!

  "Although the enemy's 1st Front Army's invasion of Shanxi was defeated, our army's pursuit and annihilation operations in Sichuan, Guizhou and other places were not fully successful! The enemy's 2nd and 4th Front Armies and scattered units continued to roam around, making it difficult for our army to completely eliminate them. Does anyone have any new opinions?"

  。。。

  The big shots are talking nonsense again! I'm almost asleep.

  "Zhongyang decided to establish the 'Shanxi-Shaanxi-Sui-Ning Four-Provincial Border Region General Headquarters', with Xie Zhen as the commander-in-chief, and initially assembled 16 divisions and 3 brigades to annihilate the enemy in northern Shaanxi!"

  Qian Daquan's voice, "The current deployment is: with Tang Junlong commanding the 4th, 89th, and 72nd Divisions, as well as the 207th Brigade, forming the Eastern Route Army to take the lead in attacking; with the 84th and 86th Divisions pinning down the enemy in the north; and with the 21st and 25th Divisions, as well as Yan Zhi's two brigades, serving as reserve forces."

  "The Southern Route Army, composed of the 67th Corps' three divisions under Deputy Commander Zhang, the 105th Division, and the 17th and 42nd Divisions under Director Yang, was tasked with assisting in the attack from the south towards northern Shaanxi; The 57th Corps' three divisions were tasked with supporting."

  "The 15th Route Army Commander-in-Chief took charge of commanding the new 7th Division, 35th Division and other units in the west to carry out containment and assist in the attack; Yan's unit continued to be responsible for the Yellow River defense mission."

  "Safe and sound! Safe and sound!"

  "Agreed!"

  "Fortunately, you reminded the enemy that the Jin Temple was approaching 'General Che's chariot', so Yan Baichuan didn't send the 72nd Division to their deaths. He said he wanted to thank you!"

  "Thanks to me? Haha!" Hopefully it's not an empty promise!

  "Zi An, what's your take on the new deployment of troops?"

  "Yes, Chairman. Due to the enemy's attack on Shaanxi, Yan's unit suffered significant losses, and the main force needs to rest and regroup. The areas swept by the enemy need to be restored and reorganized, making it impossible for the Jin army's main force to participate in our new offensive. Although our army has added the 4th, 89th, 105th, New 7th, and 35th divisions, the total attacking force is not much more than last time; in reality, only Tang's and Zhang's units may actually participate in the attack, while the others will mainly continue to observe."

  "Zi An, what's your prediction?"

  "Prediction"? Have I become a prophet? I couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, saying: "If our army only has these two small-scale offensives, and the Shaanbei region is so vast, we can only enter the enemy's territory for a short run, and it's impossible to capture the main force of the enemy; if we disperse, there's a possibility that we'll be defeated by the enemy's concentrated superior forces." And in my heart, I secretly thought: If I say any more, it will be fatal!

  "What about the prediction for the enemy army?"

  Am I really the Octopus Emperor? After the Eastern Expedition, it seems to be the Western Expedition? "Originally, after the enemy army retreated back to Shaanxi, they should have switched to rest and digest the results of the battle. But if they knew that our army had a plan to attack again, I think the enemy would still adopt the strategy of using several powerful units to pin down multiple routes, gathering their main force to launch a surprise attack on one of our attacking troops, and annihilate them. I estimate that the enemy's choice of using their main force in the western or southwestern direction is more likely."

  "Why?"

  "Because the Northeast Army's equipment is good but morale is low, leading to weak combat effectiveness. The Ma family army is good at fighting, but their equipment is poor and their combat effectiveness is also not strong. Moreover, the two armies lack coordination; the western region has a vast space for action, which is conducive to the enemy's separate attacks. Finally, both the 2nd and 4th Route Armies have plans to move northward, and the 1st Route Army's westward advance or attack on the southwest will facilitate the reception of friendly forces. Once the three routes of the enemy army converge, not only will our army at the division level be in trouble, but even units at the military level may not dare to venture into the wilderness alone!"

  "Zi An, predict again..."

  It's finally over! I fled into the backyard like a fugitive under the astonished gaze of the guards.

  Big sister, third sister and Yunyan are strolling around.

  "Miss Orchid has been here, both my sister and I have seen her. We've also roughly discussed your good son... However, Zi An has been very busy lately, don't know..."

  "It's all up to you sisters!" Yunyan said in a soft voice.

  So, no matter how the 35th Division and the new 7th Division were defeated, nor how the 2nd and 4th Route Armies were gradually moving north to fight in Gansu, nor even the international situation at that time, I got married! The wedding date was surprisingly July 7th, 1936. I really don't know if it's a coincidence or my sisters' intention?

  Although the official and Shanghai business circles have been spreading rumors about this wedding, adding grandeur and luxury to it, in fact, under Yunyan's request, the wedding was very simple and quiet. On my side, there were only siblings and closest relatives, on her side, there was only Lan Hua sister, and then there were mutual friends; because of Er Jie's boycott, Lao Jiang did not attend, but sent a gift. A Western-style wedding, without a pastor, with Jiang Baili as the witness; from the bride's side, as a Yale alumnus, I asked Lin Senlin Chairman for help.

  My beautiful bride, simple but not naive, kind but not blind; the girl I've deeply loved for two lifetimes. The ups and downs of six years, the intersecting encounters, the collision of memories between 1930 and 2010. Finally, Yún Yàn walked towards me in a snow-white dress, holding fresh flowers, her sister's two daughters carrying her wedding veil. In the traditional Western hymns, Lín Zǐ Chāo finally brought Yún Yàn before me. At this moment when the storm is about to arrive, under Jiǎng Bǎi Lǐ's solemn witness, I lifted Yún Yàn's warm hand and put on the wedding ring for my beloved.

  "I, Song Zi An, in richness or poverty, in health or sickness, in success or failure, I will be faithful to you, belong to you; cherish you, respect you, comfort you, encourage you, our life will be fulfilled because of our love."

  "I, Ma Yunyan, whether in prosperity or poverty, whether in health or sickness, whether in success or failure, I will be your obedient and faithful wife for life."

  What's wrong with the words below? Yunyan still likes being direct like this!

  In that instant, the pride and excitement of making a small change in this world were overwhelmed by the satisfaction of having a home. It was only because of the five hundred glances back in my past life that I got to brush shoulders with you in this life; but I got your glance in both lives, and finally married you...

  Like the previous life, there was no luxurious flower car, nor a grand banquet, only the gathering of relatives and friends, although the location changed from an unknown restaurant in Nanjing to the nearby famous Song Gongguan.

  Our honeymoon trip took us wandering between Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, continuing to enjoy the last peaceful moments, as well as the Jiangnan scenery that was about to be destroyed in the war. From time to time, we still encountered Zhang Zhongjing's 'travel group' and explored the Shanghai area with him.

  The situation in the northwest remains chaotic, with Tang Enbo's troops entering northern Shaanxi but unable to find an opponent. They are disheveled due to casualties from sporadic battles and non-combat losses. The First Route Army continues its westward sweep, not only suffering heavy losses for the 35th Division and New 7th Division, but also for the newly deployed New 1st Army and Northeastern Army cavalry units. Meanwhile, the Second and Fourth Route Armies have successively moved northwards, but due to my initiative, units such as the 5th Cavalry Division were withdrawn to western Henan for training before the battle, resulting in a significant reduction of troops for the New 2nd Army. If the Western Route Army does not succeed this time, it would be unacceptable!

  As the armies of both sides gradually gathered in eastern Gansu, Yún Yuè and I also ended our stay at Xiāng Shān's divine son. The chairman thought of me again. After a final inspection of the bustling munitions factory with its three shifts working overtime, and seeing off a naval transport ship loaded with sea mines, Yún Yuè and I followed an army convoy transporting heavy howitzers on our way back to Nanjing.