Chapter 6: The Army Heads North

  Behind the building of the playground, a man stood by the window with three embrasures. He had a wide face and thick eyebrows, his eyes were extremely sharp, and he wore a deep blue woolen coat on his round shoulders. He was Yu Hanmou, who dominated the military power of Guangdong.

  "Commander, tonight we've rounded up 3,000 people as you ordered. The main targets of this round-up are the hoodlums and thugs in Guangzhou. The 11th Division is responsible for this operation, and it hasn't caused any major disturbance." Yu Hanmou's aide-de-camp, Feng Ping, reported to him from behind.

  Yu Hanmou looked at the dark crowd below and said in a deep voice: "The land does not distinguish between north and south, people do not distinguish between old and young. Regardless of who, everyone has the responsibility to defend their homeland and make sacrifices. The Japanese want to attack Shanghai, my Fourth Route Army has the task of defending Guangdong, but we cannot fall behind other local armies and miss this opportunity to fight against Japan. Two days ago, I requested to go north to resist Japan for the 15th time, but the Military Department still did not allow it. The instructions given to me were to pay close attention to the movements of the Japanese naval forces and to solidify Guangdong's defenses as the main goal. I want to form an independent regiment with these three thousand people under the pretext of transporting ammunition to go north. From tonight on, you will take over as the commander of the 137th Regiment of the 11th Division."

  "Feng Ping said: 'Commander, you want to transfer me to be the commander of this new regiment? I'm afraid my ability is not up to par and will tarnish the reputation of our 4th Route Army.'"

  "I'm sending you because you can represent me, from the Northern Expedition to now, you've been with me for thirteen years. You are my representative going north. Originally, I wanted to send an elite troop with you, but the special envoy sent by the military department is watching closely, and currently, none of the seven divisions have a troop that I can dispatch to go north. The battle to defend Shanghai will definitely be extremely fierce, other places' troops are all putting in effort, we cannot stand idly by. I had no choice but to come up with this plan, to somewhat fulfill our duty to the country. Enclose and seal, although the quality of the soldiers is low, I will equip you with good weapons, three thousand brand new standard rifles from the factory will all be equipped for you, and each class will be assigned a current sergeant." Yu Hanmou said.

  "Thank you, Commander!" Feng Ping responded excitedly. He had been looking forward to going north to fight the devils for a long time. Now that he had this opportunity, although he was taking a group of new recruits who didn't know anything and his heart was filled with anxiety, he was even more excited. Finally, he could really fight the Japanese with real swords and guns, and whoever thought he would be afraid would wake up laughing.

  Yu Hanmou turned around and patted Feng Ping, who was laughing foolishly. Feng Ping looked at Yu Hanmou with gratitude, but Yu Hanmou's gaze towards Feng Ping was not only encouraging, but also deeply worried. "Go, go see your brothers!" Yu Hanmou said with a smile. Feng Ping nodded bitterly and headed out to lead the soldiers north. They couldn't even be called soldiers, just a motley crew. Watching Feng Ping's lonely figure disappear into the distance, Yu Hanmou sighed helplessly. If he didn't send troops, the people would definitely have opinions, and his own conscience wouldn't allow it. But if he sent regular troops, the military department would punish him. He had created this ragtag army of three thousand men, but how long could they hold off the Japanese? He knew better than anyone. He muttered to himself: "To serve the country with loyalty, what's the point of dying?"

  The playground was surrounded by soldiers with live ammunition, and the newly recruited soldiers were making a racket. Feng Ping arrived at the playground and pulled out a Belgian-made Browning pistol, "bang bang" two shots rang out.

  Upon hearing the gunfire, the new recruits finally felt a sense of fear, and the scene, which had been as boisterous as a vegetable market, temporarily subsided.

  "Feng Ping said loudly: 'New recruits, from the moment you stepped into the military camp gate, you have become members of the Chinese army. You will be reorganized as the 137th Regiment of the 11th Division of the Fourth Route Army, and I am your regiment commander Feng Ping. Now that the country is in danger, if the country does not exist, what can the family rely on? For the country is for the home, although you are not voluntary recruits, but you should feel honored, because you will represent the parents and villagers of Guangdong to go north and resist Japan.'"

  "I'm giving you an hour to get the troops organized!" Feng Ping barked orders at the row of battalion-level commanders behind him. Upon receiving the order, no one wasted any words, and they quickly sprang into action, organizing themselves according to the company, platoon, battalion, and regimental structure. The squad leaders pulled out eleven new recruits from the crowd and added themselves to form a squad. Then, following the four-four system, they continued to organize until they formed a regiment-sized unit.

  You Fei and his six brothers never separated. As soon as the class monitor picked on You Fei, the other six people almost simultaneously stood up beside him.

  The recruits were finally formed up with the help of rifle butts and slaps in the face.

  Feng Ping looked at the team on the playground and shouted: "Issue guns!"

  The formal rifles were taken out of the boxes one by one, placed in front of the troops, and supervised by the military police. The formal rifles were passed to the hands of the soldiers at the back one by one. A few slow-moving ones were slapped in the face.

  The same process was also passed on to everyone's hands.

  The guns were unloaded, but the uniforms had to be put on immediately. Although they were all worn crookedly, after dressing uniformly, they really did have a military appearance. The new recruits of the 137th Regiment were herded into the barracks like livestock, and a group of new recruits who hadn't had time to digest everything that had happened tonight lay quietly on the bed boards in the barracks, lying still, bewildered and at a loss.

  The next morning, the three thousand new recruits were taken to the train station again. Upon arrival at the train station, they directly boarded a sealed train carriage and set off with a loud whistle towards the north. The train was fully loaded with guns and ammunition heading for the front line.

  The duty officer in the sealed compartment reported to him: "Commander, due to the troops and supplies from various places going to the Beijing-Shanghai area occupying the railway lines, we cannot go directly to Anqing. The Military Department has arranged for the regimental headquarters to go to Zhuzhou first, then transfer to Wuhan, and then take a boat downstream to Shanghai."

  Feng Ping nodded and said, "Pass on my orders. Each squad leader should help the new recruits get familiar with their guns as soon as possible. And inform them what to do and what not to do on the battlefield. Let the veteran soldiers teach them well along the way, tell them more, so those new recruits won't die so quickly."

  The orderly saluted and went to transmit the order. Feng Ping took out a Hardman cigarette, lit it, and started puffing away. The smoke quickly obscured his face, making it impossible to discern his expression...

  The monitor of the class, Hu Weiyue, said loudly: "Since the captain wants me to share some experience with you, I'll do it. When fighting, if you stick close to your own troops, there will be more chances to stay alive. There are many other things to pay attention to, and I'll tell you later. Everyone report their names so we can get familiar with each other, my name is Hu Weiyue."

  "Yóu Fēi!" "Jiǎng Zhuàng." "Hé Tiān Hào." "Huáng Lóng." "Liú Yún Qīng." "Xǔ Zhì Wěi." "Yè Zhì Míng." "Yè Hào." "Lín Fù Guì." "Chén ā Sì." "Liú Lì Quán."

  After reporting his name, Hu Weiyue began to talk about the precautions on the battlefield, and from time to time, he inserted some stories of the past. It turned out that he was under Chen Jiongming's command, participated in the Northern Expedition, and even did things like bombarding the Yue Xiu Building... Hearing Hu Weiyue speak so excitedly, You Fei thought: No matter how powerful you were in the past, now that the king's flag has changed on the city wall, you are just a small squad leader.

  Hu Weiyue spoke emotionally about his heroic deeds until the train stopped, and he still hadn't finished speaking. Water and food were sent up. They were white buns and some dried meat floss, and the quantity was quite sufficient. The crowd, who were used to eating rice, were stimulated by the new food, and their emotions rose sharply. Everyone ate with big mouthfuls.

  The train started moving, and You Fei didn't want to listen to Hu Weiyue's nonsense anymore, so he said: "Squad leader, the captain wants you to tell us some things to pay attention to on the battlefield, can you hurry up?" Hu Weiyue slowly said: "Don't be impatient, there's still a lot to learn! I'll speak slowly, and if anyone doesn't understand, they can ask. The more you know, the more days you'll live. Time is long, so I'll continue from where I left off earlier... That time..." You Fei and others sighed, their ears continuing to suffer from Hu Weiyue's torture.

  The train crawled for two days and two nights, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, and the 137th Division finally arrived in Wuhan.