Chapter 14: The Doomed Resistance (3)

  The Tiger Regiment retreated back to their base, and the Righteous Brave Army was ecstatic. They cheered, jumped up and down, and hugged each other in celebration of this small victory.

  They were too excited, and this battle had been won with flying colors.

  Tiger looked at them, his heart also racing with excitement: How could the Righteous Brave Army only send men to their deaths? Why couldn't they fight? Wasn't it just a matter of training to be able to take on the Japanese?

  Tiger was also filled with confidence after this battle.

  "Tiger, you fought well!" Lin Jiangshi suddenly appeared at the third defense line and patted Tiger's shoulder in praise. "You fought so that all the Righteous Brave Army soldiers could hold their heads high."

  "I think we should launch a surprise attack on the Japanese tonight," Tiger said. "The Japanese will definitely study how to fight us tomorrow, so they'll let their soldiers rest well. Isn't this our chance to launch a surprise attack?"

  "A surprise attack?" Lin Jiangshi asked.

  "Yes, that's right!" Tiger replied. "The Japanese took a loss today, and they'll definitely research how to fight us better tomorrow. That means they'll let their soldiers rest well, which is our chance to launch a surprise attack."

  "Tiger, I really don't know if you've lost your memory or not," Lin Jiangshi said, seemingly puzzled. "But how do you understand these tactics? You were always brave and could take on several Japanese soldiers at once, but I never understood why you were so good at commanding battles when you'd never done it before. Did this illness give you some kind of combat inspiration?"

  Tiger was taken aback by Lin Jiangshi's question: How did he suddenly become able to command battles?

  Tiger tried hard to remember his past, to recall when he learned how to command battles, but his mind was a blur. He seemed to see himself fighting the Japanese, and then sitting at a desk looking at something, but it wasn't clear.

  "I...I don't know," Tiger replied, unsure of what to say.

  "Are you hiding something from us?" Lin Jiangshi asked, seemingly determined to get Tiger to reveal his secrets. "If you really have some kind of talent, don't hide it! Teach everyone! For the country's sake, you can't keep it hidden!"

  Tiger didn't know how to respond. He thought back and realized he didn't even know why he came up with this battle plan or how he executed a counterattack against the enemy.

  Why did he dare to do it, and how did he do it so well?

  Tiger couldn't answer himself.

  Just then, a messenger arrived with a letter for Lin Jiangshi. "This is from General Tong Maishi," the messenger said. "He orders us to immediately stop fighting and withdraw from the battlefield."

  "What?" Lin Jiangshi and Tiger exclaimed in shock. Tiger shouted, "Why?!"

  Lin Jiangshi read the letter and slowly looked up, his face pale. "The British commander-in-chief, White En Hua, has signed a surrender treaty with Japan," he said weakly.

  "Surrender? How can that be?" Tiger growled, his teeth clenched in anger. "Those damned red-haired devils, how could they just hand over our Singapore to the Japanese like this?"

  "The governor-general requests that we immediately stop resisting and disband the Righteous Brave Army," Lin Jiangshi said weakly.

  "The Righteous Brave Army will never disband!" Tiger shouted at the top of his lungs. "If we disband, Singapore is finished! The British may have surrendered, but we won't! We can organize our overseas Chinese to continue fighting against the Japanese!"

  The Righteous Brave Army soldiers' angry shouts rose up like a storm: "We will never surrender! Never surrender!"