Chapter 67: The Camp of the 29th Army

  Having obtained Sekke's affirmation, Old Chiang smiled and said: "Tomorrow, gather all the military school students from periods one to nine, three days later they will go to the military school for study!"

  Just as they were talking happily, Gui Yongqing and Qiu Qingquan rushed in. After seeing Old Jiang, they paid their respects and Gui Yongqing said: "Director, I lost today with a clear conscience! Just now I saw the enemy's defensive fortifications from the front! That is absolutely first-rate! No wonder we lost!"

  Qiu Qingquan then said to Old Chiang: "I have never fought such a muddled war, from start to finish being led by the nose!"

  Upon hearing their words, Old Jiang smiled and said: "If you want to defeat the enemy, you must start learning again from scratch!" As he spoke, Old Jiang ordered Zhang Lieyang: "Zhang Lieyang, I command you to be a temporary instructor at the military school, give you one month, teach all students 'War Psychology'!"

  "After giving a standard military salute, Zhang Lieyang said: 'Mission will be accomplished!'"

  As time passed, it was April 1935, and the ninth batch of students at the military academy finally graduated. At the graduation ceremony, Old Chiang personally presented Zhang Lieyang with a diploma and the Zhongzheng Sword. Then, the ninth batch of students began to receive their assignment notices one after another and reported to various troops.

  One afternoon, while waiting for the distribution of goods, Zhang Lieyang and Fang Bisheng were eating snacks and chatting when a messenger knocked on the door and came in, saying: "Which one is Zhang Lieyang?"

  Zhang Lieyang hastily stood up, adjusted his clothes and said: "It's me!"

  "Come with me! The Commander wants to see you!" With that, the orderly turned and walked away.

  Arriving at the Minister of Education's office door, the orderly gently pushed open the door and motioned for Zhang Lieyang to enter. Zhang Lieyang stood at attention and loudly said: "Reporting to the Minister of Education! Ninth-term conscript student Zhang Lieyang reporting for duty!"

  A stern voice came from inside the door: "Come in!"

  Zhang Lieyang then walked in with big strides, and saw Zhang Zhizhong sitting upright behind his desk, staring at him. Zhang Lieyang stopped about two meters away from Zhang Zhizhong, gave a standard military salute, and stood silently at attention.

  Seeing Zhang Lieyang's appearance, Zhang Zhizhong smiled and said: "Come, sit here!" After beckoning Zhang Lieyang to sit down, he continued: "Lieyang, your batch of graduates has started to be assigned to troops one after another! Which troop do you want to go to?"

  Zhang Lieyang thought for a moment and said: "Any unit is fine! But I have one request!"

  Upon hearing Zhang Lieyang's words, Zhang Zhizhong looked at him with great interest and asked: "What are your requirements?"

  "My request is that if we go to war with Japan on that day, I hope Education Long can send me to the front line!" Zhang Lieyang said seriously.

  "Alright! I promise you!" Zhang Zhizhong said, taking out the graduate assignment form from his desk and handing it to Zhang Lieyang, "This is the unit you've been assigned to!"

  As soon as he took over the distribution list, Zhang Lieyang was delighted. Because he was assigned to the 29th Army of the North China Military Region, Song Zheyuan's department, as the deputy regiment commander of the 11th Regiment. Seeing Zhang Lieyang's happy appearance, Zhang Zhizhong couldn't help but ask: "How come you're so happy to go to this unit?"

  "Yes!" Zhang Lieyang, who had come back to his senses, immediately regained his composure and said: "Director of Education, I saw that it was written as the head of the middle school camp, so I was happy. Because you also know that our graduates are at most just a company commander, but I became a regimental commander as soon as I graduated, can you say I wouldn't be happy?" Hearing Zhang Lieyang's response, Zhang Zhongzhong sighed and said: "You! I really don't know what to say about you! Hurry back and get ready, we'll depart in half an hour!"

  "Yes!" Zhang Lieyang said, bowing to Zhang Zhizhong before turning and leaving.

  As soon as Zhang Lieyang left, Zhang Zhizhong picked up the phone in his hand and said, "Get me Director Wen's office!" After a while, the phone was connected, and a voice came from the other end of the line: "Wen Bai, what can I do for you?"

  "Your Excellency, the people arranged to infiltrate the 29th Army have been dispatched!" Zhang Zhizhong said calmly.

  "Oh...... who is it?" Old Jiang asked sternly.

  "It's Zhang Lieyang, a graduate of the ninth period of our school!" Zhang Zhizhong said seriously.

  Upon hearing Zhang Zhongzhong's introduction, Old Chiang slightly relievedly said: "Wen Bai, if it were him I would feel at ease! However, putting such an excellent talent in the 29th Army, a motley crew, is still a waste!" As he spoke, Old Chiang let out a deep sigh and asked: "Wen Bai, do you have anything else to say?"

  "Your Excellency, Zhang Lieyang said before he left that 'he would use two years to train an excellent Iron Blood Corps!'" Zhang Zhizhong said seriously.

  "Good! He's indeed a good student!" Old Jiang exclaimed happily.

  Zhang Lieyang returned to the dormitory and saw Fang Bisheng packing his luggage as soon as he entered the door, so he went forward and asked: "Has your assignment come down?"

  "Yes! I'll be leaving soon, to become the company commander of the 6th Company, 11th Battalion, 29th Army!" Fang Bisheng said helplessly. Upon hearing Fang Bisheng's words, Zhang Lieyang laughed and said: "I didn't expect that you would still be a soldier under my command, it seems like you're destined to follow me!" As he spoke, Zhang Lieyang burst out laughing.

  "Unbelievable? Serving as a company commander under your command?" Fang Bisheng asked disbelievingly.

  "Of course it's true!" Zhang Lieyang said, handing the distribution list to Fang Bisheng. Fang Bisheng took the list and looked at it, saying: "Brother, from now on you'll be with me, and in the future you must take good care of your brother!"

  "Don't worry! Follow me and there will be plenty of battles for you to fight!" With that, Zhang Lieyang began to tidy up.

  When Zhang Lieyang took out a box from the closet, Fang Bisheng asked in surprise: "What's inside?" Hearing Fang Bisheng's words, Zhang Lieyang smiled and said: "Wait until we arrive at the unit to show you, it's confidential for now!" Just as they were talking, the orderly who was sending them off came in to help them load their things onto the vehicle.

  "After driving for a while, Zhang Lieyang curiously asked: 'Where are we headed?'"

  The driver replied, "The education director ordered me to send you to Ningbo first and then put you on the train there to report to the troops!" Upon hearing the driver's words, Zhang Lieyang smiled and said, "Thank you!" After a while, when the car passed by Lishan, Zhang Lieyang asked the driver to stop the car near Tang Yuanyue's grave and said, "I'll go take a look, I'll be right back."

  When Zhang Lieyang arrived at Tang Yuanyue's grave, he cleaned up the weeds and sat down beside her tomb, saying: "Yuanyue, I've come to see you! Now that I've graduated from military school, I'll definitely take revenge on those little Japanese devils for you!" Just as Zhang Lieyang was muttering to himself, a patrol soldier from the Household Guard Special Warfare Team who had been guarding nearby approached him.