Chapter 8: The Arrogant Superiors

  The next day, before dawn, a large number of direct soldiers had already gathered in front of Anren. Liu Yuan could see them from afar with his binoculars. The morale of the opposing soldiers was clearly high, and although they were quite far away, he could still sense a strong killing intent emanating from them.

  Liu Yuan quietly praised him, good soldier, no wonder he can fight south and north under Wu Peifu's leadership, indeed a strong army.

  Looking at our side, however, is a different story. Last night's big battle has left many soldiers injured, and after several days of rapid marching, the physical and mental strength of the soldiers have reached their limits. The next big battle will definitely be tough to get through.

  Liu Yuan put down the binoculars, walked out of the command post, and looked at the soldiers in the cooking squad. They were holding kettles and continuously distributing ginger soup to the soldiers, driving away the chill for those who had been rained on all night and hadn't gotten much rest after changing into dry clothes.

  Liu Yuan secretly cursed Xie Wenbing, this was the right time to start a war. If he had given himself three days, he would have been able to establish a foothold in Anren and wouldn't have given him any chance.

  Breakfast was sumptuous, and it would never happen that a soldier's ration would be deducted in the Third Division. A new recruit who had just joined the division for not long accidentally dropped an egg into a muddy pit, and tears immediately flowed out.

  At home, my mother was too frugal to eat eggs even when she was ill. In the army, we had eggs every morning and I felt like I was in heaven. But then I accidentally dropped an egg into the mud. My mother used to say that wasting food would lead to hell. The new recruit bent down, washed it in the muddy water, and was about to continue eating the egg.

  "Hey little devil, if an egg falls into the mud it's dirty. If you keep eating it, you'll get diarrhea! Here, I'll give this egg to you instead."

  Looking at the instructor's smiling face, the new recruit was momentarily stunned, holding the egg in a daze, neither taking it nor not taking it.

  The old soldier kicked him and the new recruit finally reacted, "Commander, I'm not hungry, you keep it for yourself. The treatment of food is the same for our three regiments, if I eat your eggs, you'll go hungry."

  "Hey, you little devil are quite sensible, take what I give you and don't be shy. Later on, you'll be at the forefront resisting the enemy's attack, can't afford to go hungry. If you're not full, who will fight for me?" Liu Yuan patted Little Soldier's shoulder and continued inspecting the surroundings of the position.

  The little soldier stared blankly at the departing instructor, put the peeled egg into his mouth in one bite, and instantly felt his whole body full of energy.

  "Alright, stop showing off. The instructor treats every subordinate like this. In the past, the instructor even praised me for wiping my gun well. Prepare to fight properly and don't disappoint the instructor." The old soldier gave the new recruit another slap. It's a good thing that the instructor loves his soldiers like sons, but these new recruits just haven't received this kind of treatment before. The old soldier shook his head unconsciously - where can you find such a great instructor?

  Liu Yuan kept walking to the front line, Hu Zongnan held a lunch box in one hand and directed soldiers to scoop water out of the trenches with the other. The knee-deep water was unbearable even for him after soaking for a long time.

  "Fu Guo, how can you think of going to the front line again? It's too dangerous. If a grenade hits you, General, I'm afraid not even your arm will be left." Hu Zongnan looked displeased.

  "Big brother, it's not that I'm saying you're wrong, but after I became your superior, you started having opinions about me, didn't you? Why can you go to the front lines and I couldn't? Isn't a general just one rank higher than a lieutenant colonel?" Liu Yuan snatched Hu Zongnan's rice bowl and took a few bites. This fried rice is a bit hard.

  "You think you're just a superior officer, but you're also the leader of our Huangpu younger generation. In the future, our Huangpu brothers will still be counting on you to take charge. If something happens to you, I'm afraid our Huangpu classmates and junior officers will have to chop me off." Hu Zongnan looked at Liu Yuan with a sullen expression, who was devouring his own food box, and then snatched the one from the guard, who reluctantly looked at his own lunchbox, wondering why all the commanders of the three divisions had this habit, weren't they afraid of contracting diseases?

  "Huangpu's young faction? I've never heard of it," Liu Yuan asked in puzzlement.

  "You're always busy with big things, you wouldn't know about this kind of thing. The term 'young and strong' was only coined when you became a teacher that day. At the time, Chen Qiang from the second period said that if our senior brother can become a teacher, it proves that our students at Huangpu are becoming more and more important in the military. Our Huangpu classmates must unite, with our senior brother as the core, to progress together." Hu Zongnan patted Liu Yuan's shoulder, "Do you know how heavy the burden on your shoulders is now? The future of our brothers depends on you."

  "Hooligan, wait till I get back, I'll teach Chen Qiang a lesson. Isn't this just a disguised way of dividing the army into factions?" Liu Yuan couldn't express his current feelings. He clearly knew that what Chen Qiang was doing was wrong, but he still hoped that his Huangpu classmates would gather around him, so that he could do things according to his own ideas.

  "The army has factions, this has been the case since Mr. Sun Yat-sen's time, and it is impossible to erase them. Even if we don't do so, others will automatically categorize us, and there's nothing we can do about it." Before Hu Zongnan could finish speaking, a thunderous cannon shot was heard.

  "Boom. Boom." Liu Yuan felt the entire world shaking, shells pouring down on their position like raindrops. He had never encountered such a situation before; warlords were usually quite poor and having a few machine guns was already good enough. This kind of artillery bombardment was something he had never seen before.

  Several seasoned veterans hid in the artillery cave, listening to the sound of shells, "Damn it, Wu Peifu really has money, 75mm field artillery, at least a dozen or so, this is going to be a disaster, fortunately we dug a good air raid shelter."

  The old soldier muttered to himself, while the squad leader didn't forget to kick the new recruits' feet, telling them to stay calm and not worry about the enemy's artillery fire in the bunker.

  Liu Yuan asked a classmate standing next to him, "Has the phone line been connected?"

  "Don't worry, sir, it will be at most five more minutes and the phone line will be connected."

  Just at this moment, a new round of shelling began, and the shaking feeling was even more obvious. The soil in the gun pit accumulated a thick layer.

  "Paralyzed, at least 120 millimeters, Xie Wenbing is going to play with his life." Just after the artillery fire had passed, Liu Yuan poked his head out and looked around. The earthwork fortifications and walls on the ground had been flattened by the cannons. Seeing the scattered limbs and internal organs on the ground, Liu Yuan knew that the damage just now was definitely very heavy.

  "Get me Command HQ." Liu Yuan said calmly.

  "Ah! Yes! Yes!" The operator was taken aback for a moment, wondering why the commander wasn't in the command center at this time. Had the commander gone to the front line again? He quickly connected the phone call.

  "Fu Guo, how did you end up on the front lines again? This is irresponsible behavior! I'm going to report you to the Military Commission!" Nie Rongzhen was like a raging lion, his thunderous voice echoing throughout the entire artillery cave.

  Liu Yuan moved his ear away from the receiver, "My party representative, don't get angry, can't I command the battle better on the front line?"

  "I'm telling you, Liu Yuan, as a representative of the Party, I order you to come back immediately. If not, I will immediately replace you in exercising military command." Nie Rongzhen thundered.

  "Lao Nian, without my consent, you can't even command the three divisions alone. And I am the highest military commander. Listen, in the name of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army, I order you to immediately organize artillery, survey the enemy's artillery positions, and at the moment of the first artillery strike, attack the enemy's artillery positions."

  "You're good, Liu Yuan! I'll reserve the right to accuse you before the Military Commission. Artillery, stop being cold and hurry up to prepare for me!"

  "Yes! Yes!" The artillery battalion commander rushed out with a fart, thinking that this party representative was not as magnanimous as the division commander and was firing wildly.

  "Superior officer, you're mighty, why are they from the Communist Party recklessly firing at our Nationalist Party?" A squad leader ran to Liu Yuan's side.

  "Get out of the way," Hu Zongnan kicked this squad leader, who was also one of his former soldiers. "Fu Guo, don't quarrel with Lao Nie, he's just stubborn, you know that."

  "I know, of course, but I still want to be reckless one more time. After I become the commander, there won't be any opportunities for me to go to the front line. Today, I'm going to capture Xie Wenbing alive and make him kneel down and call me grandpa."

  "Yes, call him grandfather." Several little soldiers followed and said with a smile.

  Hú Zōngnán wanted to stop him again, but was blocked by Liú Yuán. Liú Yuán whispered in Hú Zōngnán's ear.

  Big brother, let me be willful one last time.

  "Alas, how did I end up with a brother like you." Hu Zongnan took the gun from a soldier's hand. You said that our Nationalist Party officers are not afraid of death either. Today, brother will accompany you in shedding blood once.

  "It's not just about being hot-blooded once, but to sustain this passion." Liu Yuan wiped the Morgannia on his hand, and Lao Xiong hadn't seen blood yet.

  "Comrade commander, the enemy is learning from us and approaching our artillery positions, what should we do?" a young squad leader said as he ran back from the observation post.