Chapter 50: There's A Reward

  The Second War Zone Commander's office, General Yan Xishan is currently savoring the delicious taste of Shanxi old vinegar.

  As a native of Shanxi Province, Yan Xishan would almost always have some old vinegar with every meal.

  At this time, the old vinegar is super authentic and will not have any impurities.

  The whole room was filled with a sour vinegar smell.

  Although the Japanese army was invincible on the Shanxi territory, Yan Xishan's territory was getting smaller and smaller.

  However, Yan Xishan was not anxious at all, and he had a relationship with the Japanese.

  However, it is clear that the Japanese did not give Yan Xishan any face, and launched several consecutive attacks. At this time, Yan Xishan had to cross the Yellow River and flee to Shaanxi to escape.

  After having enough wine and food, Yan Xishan walked in front of the map.

  Seeing his own territory already marked with Japanese flags, Yan Xishan's face was somewhat displeased.

  "I, with my own hands, have managed Shanxi, and now it has fallen into the hands of the Japanese. I am ashamed before all the people of Shanxi." Yan Xishan sighed.

  The entourage beside him hastily came forward to comfort him.

  Just as the people inside the room were performing a play of loyalty and dedication, Zhu Shaoguang, wearing his uniform as the Chief of Staff of the Second War Zone, walked over.

  "General Yan, the Chahar Expeditionary Force has a victory to report: it has annihilated more than 5,000 Japanese troops under the command of Major General Tsunejiro Okazaki of the Independent Mixed Second Brigade. Zhu Xiangguang looked at Yan Xishan and his entourage, stating his purpose directly."

  A telegram had passed through the hands of two attendants before being handed over to Yan Xishan.

  Yan Xishan looked at Zhu Xuezhong with a shocked face, obviously somewhat disbelieving that this thing was true.

  "How did they do it, they only had a division-sized force there, at most a few thousand men, no heavy artillery firepower, how could they have taken out an entire Japanese independent mixed brigade? If this is a false report, I won't let them off the hook." Yan Xishan said as he slowly opened the file.

  As he read through the documents, Yan Xishan's face grew increasingly shocked.

  In order to avoid these officials' distrust, Yang Junran reserved all the corpses with military ranks above lieutenant colonel and welcomed them to inspect at any time.

  Of course, Yang Junran didn't believe that these officials would condescend to come to his place for inspection, after all Chahar was full of Japanese troops everywhere.

  Under the dim light, Yan Xishan's face had changed from astonishment to excitement.

  Putting down the telegram, Yan Xishan sat in a delicate chair, his eyes fixed on the map not far away, his head constantly thinking.

  Last time, the chairman directly changed Yang Junran's troops and all supplies were directly managed by the Military Affairs Department.

  This matter has allowed Yan Xishan to see some meaning in it, and the Chairman of the Committee wants to incorporate this army.

  But isn't this exactly the kind of troops they need?

  "Lang Jun, immediately send a telegram to Yang Junran's department. The Second War Zone is awarding Yang Junran's department 1 million yuan, and will provide 1,000 rifles, 50 machine guns, and 30 mortars as supplements." Yan Xishan said hastily, seemingly remembering something else, continuing: "Let the logistics department handle it immediately, striving to deliver these things in the shortest time possible."

  Zhu Guang pointed his head and said to Yan Xishan: "This troop is very capable of fighting. I think we need to win them over. Once they are incorporated into the combat sequence of the Central Army, it is likely that they will be transferred to other battlefields. I suggest giving them as much troops as possible. As long as Chahar has such a strong anti-Japanese armed force, the Japanese army will have to consider this force when launching a campaign in Shanxi."

  Yan Xishan stood up and walked in front of the map, hesitating for a moment.

  "Right, you're right. They can also coordinate with our battle zone's actions. In addition to transferring some new recruits to supplement them, and those motley troops, send more of them over there. Anyway, these motley troops are useless here, but they should be very useful over there." Yan Xishan walked up to Zhu Xianggui's side, saying excitedly.

  Now there are only two goals for the two of them, first, they cannot let the chairman take away this troop, and second, to expand Yang Junran's armed forces as much as possible, so that they can assist the Second War Zone in battle.

  "I'll go and arrange it right away, I'll try to give them more troops." Zhu Xieguang quickly walked out towards the outside.

  Yan Xishan sat in his chair and began to daydream.

  The next morning, Yang Junran led his troops back to their garrison.

  In one night, Yang Junran had copied a lot of weapons. Just the Type 97 tank, his troops now have eighty of them.

  Those destroyed tanks, Yang Junran also did an experiment, but it was impossible to replicate.

  Zhou Yulan stood on top of the high mountain, looking at Yang Junran's back, and still had some small thoughts in her heart.

  As she watched Yang Junran's figure getting farther and farther away, Zhou Yulan's eyes dimmed slightly.

  She didn't know what she was thinking, but she knew she gradually liked seeing the young officer and also liked talking to him.

  The self who didn't used to love laughing would become very happy after seeing this young military officer.

  On the road of marching, Yang Junran didn't have time to think about these personal issues.

  The tank regiment's affairs had a great impact on him. Except for last night when he saw Zhou Yulan smile, Yang Junran furrowed his brow the rest of the time.

  He knew that there was a great difference between an army trained for war and one which had been through many wars.

  Towards the First and Third Brigades, they usually performed similarly during training and couldn't be distinguished from each other in terms of high or low.

  But once on the battlefield, a different situation emerged, with the First Brigade performing much better than the Third Brigade.

  "Zhang Junzhe, speak your mind about tanks." Yang Junran jumped off his warhorse and shouted back at Zhang Junzhe.

  Zhang Junzhe quickly ran over and saluted, saying: "Master."

  Hesitating for a moment, Zhang Junzhe still spoke out: "Sir, I heard that the Germans concentrated their tanks and used them in this way. This time, the main failure of the tank regiment was that each tank driver could not skillfully control the tank and complete various tactical movements. Many drivers were clearly flustered after being hit. I suggest that in future training, we can adopt live-fire training to let tank drivers become familiar with such situations."

  Yang Junran nodded and motioned for Zhang Junzhe to continue speaking.

  "Various tactical training should also be improved, we should not let tank drivers do things in the way we specify, after all, things on the battlefield are ever-changing, and doing tactics by rote should give play to the driver's own understanding ability." Zhang Junzhe continued to say.

  Yang Junran nodded and looked at the county town not far away.

  "Reorganize your tank regiment, with three battalions under its command, each battalion having 25 tanks. Send the remaining five tanks to the training regiment. Have someone compile a report and send it directly to the training regiment. Also, I'm assigning you an artillery battalion equipped with ten Type 92 infantry guns to enhance your attacking capabilities." Yang Junran mounted his warhorse and said to Zhang Junzhe beside him.

  "Thank you, Master." Zhang Junzhe said with a bow.

  Yang Junran smiled and patted the war horse's body lightly, and the war horse quickly galloped forward.

  Inside the county town, Cui Zhengming, who had received intelligence, had already reported his military achievements to the Military Commission.

  As for Yang Junran's team's ability, Cui Zhengming was getting more and more optimistic.

  Throughout the entire division, Cui Zhengming had only a small desk. Although he held the position of Chief of Staff, Cui Zhengming rarely participated in formulating any battle plans.

  Many people think that Choi Jeong-myeong is just a spy and doesn't have any military command ability at all.

  "Head of the department, the Military Affairs Department has sent a telegram, commending our unit for its great achievements in the Pacific Ocean, awarding Yang Junran, the commander of the division, with the third-class Cloud and Banner Medal. All other participating officers have also been commended. It is specially approved that 53 graduates from the 12th class of the Central Army Military Academy (including graduates from various branches) will soon rush to Chahar to join the vanguard division.

  Colonel Hua Shuyi walked up to Cui Zhengming with a telegram in her hand, saying: "Colonel Cui, please take a look at this." Cui Zhengming took the telegram and looked at it briefly before handing it back to Hua Shuyi.

  Hua Shuyi then handed over the telegram to Fang Hanchen, the chief of staff standing beside her.

  "Attention!" The guards outside shouted in unison, saluting.

  Yang Junran smiled and returned the courtesy, walking towards the inside.

  Fang Hanchen and others stood up quickly and saluted after seeing Yang Junran.

  Yang Junran smiled and said to Fang Hanqin, "You send someone to inform them that the heads of each brigade are required to attend a meeting tonight. Also, notify the troops to prepare for battle. This time, we killed a Japanese major general brigade commander, they won't let us off easily."

  Fang Hanchen nodded and handed over the telegram he had just received to Yang Junran.

  Yang Junran saw the fifty-three graduates and the joy on his face suddenly disappeared.

  It's unprecedented for a single teacher to have so many graduates, but the chairman's intention is clear, even if Yang Junran is foolish.

  As long as these students from the Imperial Academy enter Yang Junran's troops, the entire Chahar Advance Corps will become a legitimate Huangpu Legion Corps. At that time, just change the commander of this corps and it will become a central army under the Chairman's command.

  However, Yang Junran is not a fool. As long as he controls these Huangpu graduates, he can not only expand his own strength but also have a batch of excellent military officers. This is something that Yang Junran will definitely do, and how to buy out these Huangpu elites depends on Yang Junran's skills.

  "Marshal, the Chairman holds you in high esteem. Such an honor is not something that any ordinary officer can receive." Cui Zhengming walked over and pointed to the contents of the telegram, saying.

  Yang Junran smiled and handed the telegram to Cui Zhengming, saying: "It's better to give me a few main force divisions of the Central Army directly. This way, we can expand the Chairman's troops and eliminate more Japanese devils."

  Choi Jeong-myeong's face was filled with embarrassment as he walked towards his own seat.