The First Part of the National Hero's Lonely City Blood War Chapter 9 The Eve of the Great Battle

  Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Chung-cheng, the chairman of the committee who was in Huangshan Official Residence in Chongqing, had just finished dinner and was admiring the sunset on the balcony. Due to the half-hour time difference between Burma and Chongqing, Song Yuanhang's telegram was discovered by a major general with close ties to the Soong family and was delivered to Chiang Kai-shek in a very timely manner!

  Chiang Kai-shek was somewhat excited after reading the telegram. For many years, he had been at a disadvantage for not having "his own people". China's vast warlord system was like a thick ice that was hard to break through. He had always attached great importance to the title of head of the Whampoa Military Academy precisely because it allowed him to recruit so-called "his own people".

  Today, the Song family actually produced a person who begged for the country and nation, was loyal to the leader, and was also one of their own! How could he not be delighted?

  After turning a few circles, Chiang Kai-shek called out to Soong Mei-ling who had just walked up the stairs: "Mei-ling! Come quick and take a look, this is indeed a fine talent from your Song family!"

  Years of political experience had long since allowed Soong Mei-ling to develop a habit of being unruffled by praise or blame. With elegant poise, she walked up to Chiang Kai-shek's side, muttering to herself: just the other day, he was still scolding the Soongs and Kungs for being expert money-grabbers who didn't care about the overall situation, calling them good-for-nothings; why this sudden change of attitude today?

  After receiving the telegram, Soong Mei-ling immediately understood that Song Far-hai, the only son of the Song family who enlisted in the army, did not want to return to the rear? Wouldn't it be that the sun in Burma had ruined his brain?

  She smiled slightly and said, "Jie Shi! Didn't you want to call him back the day before yesterday? He's the only son in my cousin's family. What can a small staff officer of the constabulary do at the front?"

  Chiang Kai-shek hesitated for a moment and said, "You Song family men are mostly merchants with short-sighted vision, when the country is in danger, you only care about your immediate interests, without a sense of national consciousness, it's hard to achieve great things! But this young man is different, he has the spirit of youth, hot blood, understands the truth that wealth and honor are won through danger, and dares to strive for them. Look at how he deals with the British, his tactics and courage are rare, it's hard to find someone who can be compared to him."

  Chiang Kai-shek paused for a moment: "We should give him more opportunities, rather than restricting his hands and feet. When he becomes a great talent in the future, it will also be an honor to your Song family!"

  Actually, Chiang Kai-shek did not say what was in his heart. In his view, Song Weihang was just a radical and impulsive young man of the time, who was reckless and childish. This could be seen from his use of military force to threaten the British army and seize supplies, showing that he had no political concept at all as a soldier! Chiang Kai-shek always believed that a soldier who did not understand politics was a true soldier, and that soldiers should be purely soldiers, while politics belonged only to leaders.

  The British 1st Division Commander, Major General Scott, who was left with no face after being messed up by Song Yunhou, immediately lodged a furious complaint against the Chinese Expeditionary Force's Provost Marshal, Song Yunhou, for looting and insulting Allied troops and British officers through the new British Commander-in-Chief in Burma, General Alexander.

  But this protest fell into the hands of Chiang Kai-shek and changed its flavor. The loud slap that Song Yunhou gave to the British was equivalent to avenging the insult brought to him by General Wavell, the one-eyed general of Britain in 1941. To this day, he still remembers Wavell's arrogant attitude and piercing words: "If Burma is rescued by Chinese troops, it would be a shame for the British army!"

  This sentence made Chiang Kai-shek write in his diary, "The British are arrogant and ignorant, stupid and unbearable, and it is actually not worth working with them."

  But Soong Mei-ling's mind had already turned several times during Chiang Kai-shek's speech, and since the Taxation Police Corps left Song Ziwen's jurisdiction, the Soong family seemed to be missing something. In the concept of big families and financial giants in China, the army is always a symbol of strength and status, as the saying goes: "A family with thousands of hectares of good fields is not as good as having an army in hand."

  T.V. Soong's Tax Police Corps is by no means the Central National Defense Army! In China, guns are always the most reliable, and if Farhuan is indeed a talent as Chiang Kai-shek said, with the full support of the Soong family, it will take only a decade or so for him to dominate the military and political departments, and the rise of the Soong Empire will be unstoppable!

  Chiang Kai-shek gazed at the blood-red sunset on the horizon and said in his rapid Fuzhounese dialect, "The sky is going to change!"

  Soong Mei-ling didn't say much, picked up a cloak from the chair and gently placed it on Chiang Kai-shek's shoulders.

  Chiang Kai-shek patted Song Meiling's hand, and Song Meiling leaned her head on Chiang Kai-shek's shoulder, the evening breeze whispered silently, everything seemed so calm.

  During this time, a not-so-big-but-not-so-small incident occurred in the troops, causing a great shock. This matter started with the comfort goods from the Military Commission. The Military Commission considered Tonggu's important strategic position and specially airlifted a batch of comfort goods.

  There were biscuits, canned beef, and fruit, one share per soldier and officer.

  But when everyone got their hands on and opened them, they found that the cookies were all worm-eaten and moldy. To say nothing of eating them, just smelling them made you want to vomit.

  What's even more outrageous is that the canned beef was switched with something like soybeans, and some soldiers' cans were either empty or had nothing in them! As for fruit, it didn't exist at all.

  At that time, the people who sent condolences were surrounded by the officers and soldiers of the 200th Division. The leading colonel, with a crying tone, swore that these things would be flown in immediately after Deputy Commander Du gave the order. They didn't even see the fruit, but heard from their comrades in the air force that they seemed to have rotted on the road before they even reached the airport...

  The incident was quickly suppressed by Dian Wei, although it wasn't a big deal, but it cast a heavy shadow over the troops. Many grassroots officers and soldiers were talking about how they shed blood for the country on the front lines, while some people in the rear made a fortune from the national crisis, even embezzling the small comfort goods meant for the troops. Can this war still be won?

  While senior officers are avoiding talking about this, Song Yuanhang knows that saying more is useless and won't change anything. What pains him the most is that with national difficulties mounting, incidents like "the front lines are tight, the rear is even tighter" keep happening? And it has already reached the point of affecting the comfort supplies for the frontline troops! It's really infuriating!

  On March 18, 1942, contrary to everyone's expectations, Song Yuanhang announced that except for patrols and sentry posts, all personnel would be on duty for one day! The garrison gate, which had been accustomed to intensified tense training, suddenly found itself with nothing to do in the ancient city where every household was closed.

  Wiping and maintaining weapons has become the choice of most officers and soldiers. The war is approaching, Wu Jiuming and others who are busy preparing for battle have long since lost their energy to harass Song Yuanhang. At this moment, Song Yuanhang clearly knows that tomorrow at noon, the deputy commander of the 599th regiment, Huang Xianxian, who is in charge of the guard troops, will engage in fierce combat with the Japanese army's 55th division 112th search team. According to historical records, the guard troops also deployed light armored vehicles to sweep the Japanese troops?

  But what light tanks does the 200th Division have at this moment? Is it my tank unit? If Huang Xianxiao's picket troops lost the support of tanks, it would not be easy to defeat the Japanese search team.

  Suddenly enlightened, Song Yuanghai decided to return quickly to the Garrison Command, and when passing by Fengyu Xuan, he unexpectedly found that the wine house had been closed. The steps at the door were full of dust and discarded objects, but several clear footprints outside the side door showed that someone had come and gone not long ago.

  Song Yuanhang returned to the Garrison Command without thinking much and immediately convened all the vehicle commanders and snipers in the command center for a meeting, wanting to give the participating troops an accidental encounter feeling, otherwise it would be too shocking.

  After Song Yuanhang deployed the route of armored vehicle patrol, he arranged a company of garrison troops to cooperate with snipers for rehearsal tasks. Song Yuanhang promptly reported this information to the command center of the 200th Division.

  Dai Anrui received the notice from the Garrison Command, scratched his scalp which was sore and blue, and casually handed the notice to Chief of Staff Zhou Zhiran.

  Zhou couldn't help but smile wryly, pressing the report onto the table and saying, "This Song Yuanhang is really something! Just take what happened outside Kuroba Airport...”

  Dai Anruo's sharp gaze made Zhou Zhi suddenly realize that he was involved in military secrets, and he hastily changed the subject: "I'll go arrange tomorrow's guard troops!"

  Dai Anrong turned around and asked: "Oh! Which battalion is rotating in?"

  Zhou thought for a moment before answering, "The deputy commander of the 599th Regiment is Huang Xianxiao! He's from the 8th class of Whampoa Military Academy, and he writes beautiful calligraphy and paints excellent landscape paintings with ink."

  Dai An nodded silently and didn't speak, Zhou Zai then followed suit and walked out of the command center, heading straight for the communication center tens of meters away. Originally, this matter didn't require his personal attention as the chief of staff, but Zhou Zai felt that the atmosphere within the command center was too heavy and oppressive, so he took the opportunity to come out and get some fresh air.

  The twinkling stars in the clear night sky brought up a thread of worry in Zhou Zhi's mind, that is, the Burmese Allied forces did not have air superiority, and the British had almost all their fighter planes and bombers recalled to defend the skies of Great Britain, the clear weather meant that the Japanese could get air support at any time they thought necessary.

  On the morning of March 19, 1942, when the earth was still immersed in the aftertaste of dreams, Song Yuanhang led his platoon of snipers and a battalion of gendarmes armed with submachine guns and light and heavy machine guns to the south bank of the Piyou River Bridge, where they began building field fortifications on the flank of the guard regiment led by Huang Xianxian.

  The Piyou River was shrouded in a thin layer of mist at dawn, the willows on both sides of the river swayed gently in the breeze, everything was so peaceful and quiet, but this peace would not last long.

  Song Yuanhang clearly remembered that today was the day when the Battle of Pingxingguan broke out, and on this day in history, the 200th Division's vanguard troops defeated a large-scale Japanese search party. However, the specific time of the exchange of fire and some tactical details between the two sides were unknown to Song Yuanhang.

  Song Yuanhang's action this morning was reported to the headquarters of the 200th Division last night, and Huang Xianchuan had been informed. The 200th Division has always adopted the guiding principle of elastic maneuver defense, which is to use multi-level pre-set positions to consume the enemy's living forces and sharpness, and gradually lead them into the main position fire range for a strike. Today, the battalion commanded by Huang Xianchuan played this role, routinely ambushing on one side of the highway.

  After lying in wait, with great curiosity, Huang Xianxiao and Song Yuanhang chatted casually for a few sentences, and soon they found common language! What shocked Song Yuanhang was that Huang Xianxiao turned out to be an extreme nationalist of the 1940s! Many radical remarks made Song Yuanhang feel frightened just by listening.

  Unconsciously, it was almost noon, and Song Yuanhang subconsciously looked at his watch again. Huang Xianxuan saw the situation and asked, "Is there something urgent? You look like you're waiting for someone?"

  Song Yuanhang shook his head, paused for a moment, and then nodded slightly!

  At this moment, Song Yuanhang's guest, Lieutenant Colonel Isobe Ichiro, was stepping on a tricycle with his feet, holding a water bottle and drinking several mouthfuls, then pouring the water freely over his head and arms, regardless of others.

  Yamada Teruo, a private first class with already chapped lips from thirst, could only gaze longingly as the precious water was squandered by Lieutenant Junior Grade.

  Ishibashi got satisfaction and shouted to a lieutenant staff officer, pressing the map on the motorcycle and beckoning: "Everyone please look! 30 kilometers ahead is the Burmese stronghold of Sagaing, everyone will make an effort, tonight I will entertain you with top-notch sake and women in Sagaing City."

  Whenever he thought of women, Kijuro remembered the Chinese girl he had caught in Yangon, her pale skin and plump figure, especially the desperate expression on her face when she was pinned under him. It felt so good, but unfortunately, she went crazy after a few times, this time entering Songgu, he must catch a few Chinese overseas Chinese to comfort himself, thinking about it, Kijuro felt a burning sensation in his lower body.

  The arrogance of Isamu Yokoyama comes from the incompetence of the British army. Since the 55th Division entered Burma, they have been advancing smoothly, first capturing more than 7,000 British troops in the Mawdok area, with countless weapons and equipment, and then occupying Rangoon without a fight.

  The Japanese army killed all the way, and the British troops fled at the sight of them. The Burmese armed forces they had trained with great pains collectively defected to the Japanese side. The Sakaguchi detachment set out from Rangoon and advanced northward for over 100 kilometers in one morning without firing a single shot, as if entering an uninhabited land. All this further inflated Sakaguchi's arrogance!

  Although the division had received intelligence that the Chinese Expeditionary Force had entered Burma, further intelligence confirmed that the defenders of Toungoo would likely be China's only mechanized unit, the 200th Division. However, from the division commander, Tani Hisao, to the soldiers, no one believed that the Chinese troops would be a match for the Imperial Japanese Army. The so-called Chinese government was now hiding in the southwest, barely clinging to life, and an army that couldn't even defend its 'capital' had any fighting strength? Moreover, the British had been defeated and fled, could the Chinese army be stronger than the British?

  Isogai Ichirō was so arrogant that he thought that if the British, with their strong military power, could capture Yangon without a fight, it would not be surprising for his 500-man search party to occupy Thongwa.

  Under his arrogant impulse, Isoroku Takano didn't even dispatch a vanguard and directly led the search party to rush to Toko.

  "The honor of capturing Tonggu is mine, Kijibayashi Hiro's!" With a burst of maniacal laughter, Kijibayashi Hiro mounted the first motorcycle and rode at the head of the group.

  History will remember this day, March 19th, 1942, when the Battle of Singapore officially broke out!