Chapter Seventeen: Painful, Lonely, and Adrift

  The Lingxing camp has been renovated in the past few days: originally, after Xue Yue's westward advance, the camp was actually disbanded, and it was just a name for that piece of land. Now, a new vertical sign has been hung on the main gate: National Revolutionary Army First Field Division.

  After Chiang Kai-shek watched the original Twenty-third Division's training project with great pleasure, he dealt with Wu Qizhen leniently and then flew to Chongqing with Yang Yongtai. He Yingqin stayed in Lingling for two more days, mainly to inspect a batch of new weapons said to be invented or improved by Tan Xing; another was to coordinate the relationship between Tan Xing and He Jian: these two had not been on good terms before.

  After seeing off these big shots one after another, Tan Xiao finally let out a sigh of relief.

  These two days, taking advantage of the continued rise in opium prices, he easily cleared out all his goods and, together with the cooperation dividends from Guijun and Dianjun, made a huge profit of 22 million. After calculating: According to the data provided by He Yingqin, within a year, the number of troops coming to Lingling for training will reach 20,000! Just the expenses for their military pay, food, clothing, and camp expansion will be as high as 42 million. As for the large amount of training ammunition, based on an average of 100 rounds per person for graduation training, it would cost around 10 million! This is still the result of using all training ammunition; in between, some live artillery shells will be demonstrated, and it's estimated that another 5 million will be added. After deducting these major expenses, and then taking away 25% of the original security brigade's dividend, he himself would only have around 18 million left. Although this money isn't all spent at once, and some can still be borrowed from the account, if he can finally save 3 million, that's already a good laugh! Old Chiang's calculations are accurate; give him a little commission, and let him spend it! However, he has acknowledged the purchase of cannons from England and France, otherwise Tan Xiang would have to pay for those 2,000 six-pound cannons with his entire family's fortune!

  However, after Tan Xiao finished selling all the opium, he quickly regained his mental balance - because someone transported a large amount of opium from Vietnam and Myanmar to Shanghai by sea, causing the price of opium to drop by half overnight! Now it's plummeting every day, and many second-tier cities below suddenly started cracking down on opium dens. The real opium giants, who were still hoarding goods, such as the Guangxi and Yunnan armies, were actually using Tan Xiao as a shield, but they couldn't help but cry - at the same time, they also killed off the high-priced opium dens and the people who followed suit and hoarded goods along the way. Tan Xiao thought that this was a big move that only the central government could do in collaboration with Du Yuesheng, and he was secretly shocked again - Old Chiang Kai-shek wasn't as incompetent as depicted in later literary works. This move to ban opium and severely punish the Guangxi and Yunnan armies was a clever trick, killing two birds with one stone. If Old Chiang really wanted to kill him, he would have done it a few days ago! Now, by handling things this way, he's telling Tan Xiao that obedience will be rewarded!

  Now that he has become rich and is living a comfortable life, Tan Xiao doesn't regret the money spent on military training: this amount of training was later used as the standard for American instructors to train Chinese expeditionary artillerymen in India! If he could train 20,000 excellent gunners for the country within a year, he would be willing to spend even more money! But what puzzles him is: what did Chen Cheng do in Wuhan?! Moreover, having less money on hand has added many difficulties to his new hobby of development. And besides, he still had many social engagements: Xie Te was about to personally deliver the second batch of six-pound cannons shipped from India!

  Chen Cheng, although he had many plans but few successes, and his military career was marked by repeated mistakes, was beyond reproach in terms of integrity. His 18th Army was the first to implement the "Three Publics" policy, earning it a reputation as a "clean army" with transparent accounts. Now, in Wuhan, he is diligently reorganizing the artillery.

  Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing maintained his diligent work style, presenting reports from all over the country early in the morning. "Jing Qing, if all military leaders were as loyal and capable as Tan Fengshan, how could we worry about not defeating the Japanese invaders?" He handed a report from the Military Affairs Department to Yang Yongtai and said: "According to my intention, Jing gave Tan Fengshan an arrangement for training 20,000 people. Huh? Guess what? In just one day, Tan Fengshan completed the plan! Without any hesitation or resistance! Good! Now I finally dare to make up my mind to let him take charge of the chaotic situation in the south!"

  "Your Excellency, I have some doubts," said Yang Yongtai. "Could it be that Tan Fengshan saw through the central government's probe or was someone hinting to him?

  "How could this be? Doesn't he have anyone around him?" Chiang Kai-shek heard Yang Yongtai seemingly distrust Tan Xiang, and was somewhat displeased - aren't you saying that I, Chiang, have been deceived?

  "Chairman, this...this is what Zhang Jingyu was worried about. During the brief meeting in Lingling, from what Zhang saw, there were many generals in the National Army, but none of them seemed to be as outstanding as Tan Fengshan. With his level of expertise, he didn't have any opinions on this plan for training 20,000 artillerymen. If it wasn't that he saw through the Central Committee's probe, then the problem would be even more serious - he thought that 20,000 artillerymen could be used! Yang Yongtai paused and said: "I don't understand military affairs, but he is an expert. This time when we went to Lingling, during casual conversations, I clearly felt that he was very worried about Japan's next step in invading our country's territory. He attached such importance to the plan for 20,000 artillerymen...perhaps in his calculations, a war between China and Japan..." Seeing Chiang Kai-shek suddenly frown, Yang Yongtai stopped speaking."

  Chiang Kai-shek's heart sank as he listened to Yang Yongtai's words, and then it started racing! Japan's all-out invasion of China had always been his deepest hidden fear: a war between China and Japan was inevitable, this was his own view, but how big the war would be and how to fight it, he really couldn't figure out. The slogan for eliminating communism in recent years has been "repel the external enemy first, then stabilize the internal situation", which is also his true intention: he is truly worried that Japan will start a war when the internal chaos is not yet resolved.

  "Chiang Kai-shek, once the war subsides a bit, we'll make another trip to Lingling!" Chiang Kai-shek hesitated for a moment before making his decision.

  If Tan Xiao knew about the conversation between Chiang Kai-shek and Yang Yongtai in Chongqing, he would be at a loss for what to think: The training of 20,000 artillerymen was just a facade! Unless they followed the original historical path, otherwise, in the face of confrontation with Japan, hundreds of millions of troops, even 20,000 artillerymen would be barely usable! According to his idea, each division should have at least 30 artillery pieces, with two artillery groups per piece, and 100 divisions would need 6,000 artillery groups! 20,000 people are indeed not enough! Although the money saved could be used for other things, Tan Xiao would still choose to have 20,000 artillerymen! Money can be found another way, but such large-scale personnel training is impossible without time, training conditions, and central support planning.

  But Tan Xiao didn't know that now he was still somewhat pleased with himself, receiving guests in the private reception room of his new department: Xie Te, and also Bei Dang, as well as Rong Hui who had appeared countless times in his dreams during this period.

  As a result of the Anglo-French joint effort to counter Germany's strategic resources in China, Xie was inexplicably drawn into the conflict by the two anti-German organizations: he transported 300 six-pound cannons from India to China and received notification before departure to also bring along the second batch of thirty Krupp guns that France had sold to China in Vietnam.

  "When did the relationship between England and France become so good!? Even competing arms dealers are joining hands?" Xie Te was a bit sudden, but this was the headquarters' decision. Alright, let the French hitch a ride then!

  It was rare for both Bédard, representing the French arms dealers, and Chet, representing the British arms dealers, to appear together in Tan Xiao's private reception hall.

  Perhaps to show his special closeness to Tang Xiao, or perhaps he was really happy about Tang Xiao's promotion, Little Fatty Xie Te immediately hugged Tang Xiao tightly as soon as they met! Then, he took two steps back, stood at attention and gave Tang Xiao a British-style military salute: "Private Brisley. Xie Te salutes the General!"

  Tan Xiao is now a lieutenant general! The lieutenant general of the Xiang Army, Chiang Kai-shek can promote someone very quickly and skillfully: He Jian will come forward to apply for Tan Xiao's military rank, and then this year, there will be a nationwide military rank unification rectification. At that time, it will not be Old Chiang's nepotism! Tan Xiao returned a serious Chinese military salute and loudly ordered: "Now order Lieutenant Brisley Shete to transport all the ammunition in his warehouse, from cannons to pistol bullets, to me in Lingling within a month!" The two burst out laughing. "As long as there is money, I can sell you the Mediterranean Fleet, General!" Shete was very pleased with Tan Xiao's intimate performance in front of Bai.

  While Bai was maintaining his noble smile, watching the two perform with great interest. Rong Hui dodged the men's hypocrisy and began to examine Tan Xiao's new office, in fact, she had never even entered Tan Xiao's old office. Her gaze stayed on a photo, a classic one: a chair, Principal Jiang and his students' forever unchanged sitting and standing posture, this kind of photo many people among China's military officers have taken, it is an identity symbol: Tianzi Gate student. Now, Tan Xiao, the nominal ninth generation, had become a genuine Tianzi Gate student.

  After everyone had exchanged pleasantries, the conversation turned to the weather and some boring topics about India and Vietnam - this was the best topic when three parties were together rather than two. Just as everyone was racking their brains for something dull to say, an aide came in with a telegram, relieving everyone: Tan Xiaocai looked at the beginning of the telegram, his face suddenly turned iron-gray!

  He hastily sent away the three people who had noticed his unusual expression and took their leave. Tan Xiao suddenly sat down on the sofa, powerless, with sweat beads rapidly flowing down his pale face! His trembling hands picked up the telegram again, reading it painfully: Last night, our Peng Hanbai Guard Regiment encountered a surprise attack by the main force of the Red Bandit Xiangxi Guerrilla Army at Chenjiawan, Tongren. After a fierce battle, we annihilated 1,012 enemy soldiers, with six of our troops killed and thirty-seven wounded...

  The telegram slipped out of his hand, and Tan Xiao's mind was in a mess: he had already made all sorts of arrangements, with the strongest military appearance to show people, with the most stringent vigilance to warn, and with all means to avoid contact with the small units of the Red Army. How could this situation still occur! What went wrong? For the Xiangxi Guerrilla Troop, 1012 people are not a small unit, but the absolute main force! What's going on?!

  Tan Xiao calculated a lot, but he miscalculated, and what he miscalculated was He Laozong's loyalty to the revolution!

  After the Central Red Army crossed the Chishui River for the second time, Zhang Guotao deliberately abandoned the northern Sichuan base and entered Shaanxi, selling out the Central Red Army to the Nationalist army. He Long in western Hunan, relying on his loyalty to the revolution and support for the Central Committee, resolutely led his troops to cut westward, raiding the rear of the Nationalist army. Upon receiving intelligence that a heavily guarded logistics unit would be passing through Tongren, and this "heavily guarded" unit was actually the old familiar face Tan Facai's former unit under Tan Dechang, he immediately decided to dispatch the main force to launch a night attack...

  Tan Xiao knew: other troops would exaggerate their achievements, but his troops wouldn't! Peng Hanbo wouldn't! He also understood the reason why the Xiangxi Guerrilla Troop suffered heavy losses: they died in Tan Xiao's hands, died under those poisonous moves that Tan Xiao had originally trained to deal with the Japanese devils, accumulated from generation to generation of experience and summary!

  Tan Xiao didn't need to look at the detailed battle report anymore, he was clear about how Peng Hanbo's troops were defending: it wasn't like those simple and low-level things in European infantry manuals of the 18th century, such as mobile sentries and hidden sentries. Instead, they had been tempered through countless bloody battles during the Liberation War, the Korean War, the invasion of India, the suppression of Vietnam, and the Battle of Lao Mountain, combined with later research and the killer moves trained by this time-traveler under current conditions! He could imagine what those brave but poorly equipped Xiangxi guerrilla fighters had encountered: traps! Death pits!! The sentries were traps, the easily captured outer guard trenches were traps, the rapid advance channels were traps, the hidden depressions... all were traps! All were death traps!!!

  When you quietly sneak up while still thinking about whistling, you may have already touched the lightly crafted and difficult-to-detect alarm; when your large team quietly presses up to prepare for a lightning strike, it is already facing a dark and strict killing array! Those outer trenches that were easily occupied by you all hide death: a kind of electrically controlled fire, military large cans cut open vertically, filled with explosives, iron sand, broken glass, and metal fragments on the outside, temporary directional explosion thunder! This kind of directional thunder that uses the counterforce of the land and walls to spray is undoubtedly a modern version of the US military's " Claymore" made of earth! Those breast walls, those special breast walls, one side is real, and the back side, which is used by the enemy after occupation, actually has only a sandbag on the surface supported by a frame and wooden board, allowing the occupier to safely place machine guns for shooting. The bottom is all just an empty shell with a thickness of only five centimeters! Standing behind such breast walls to fight is undoubtedly exposing one's whole body to the opponent's attack! And right in front of these breast walls, there is a simple bunker disguised as a soil heap, where the machine guns inside are set to shoot at the height of waiting for the enemy to take the bait! Those easily rushed passageways are themselves traps and also tools that lead people to other traps such as firepower killing: In the dark, humans have unconsciously become accustomed to advancing along the original passageway due to inertia, which has long been studied by experts in modern human behavior! So, slightly changing the terrain to form a passageway leads people to areas that can be covered by firepower! And on both sides of the passageway, there are groups of "earth-made Claymores"......

  Too many, too many! Everywhere is a death trap! Everywhere are the users of death traps! After training, those soldiers won't casually start an explosion, they will wait, wait for their firepower to create a blockade, and when the opposing attacking personnel are suppressed in a very small area, then explode! The killers' marksmanship was trained by at least hundreds of thousands of bullets, those deliberately ignited fires blocked the opponent's line of sight, covering up the heavy machine guns set up in the blind spots of the attackers to carry out ruthless sniping...

  No blind spots in the complementary stereoscopic crossfire point! Filled with all sorts of deadly traps! Trained in refined killing techniques! These vicious killing moves, originally prepared for the invaders, were first subjected to cruel field testing on the guerrilla fighters themselves!

  Tan Xiao didn't dare to hope that he could avoid the fight he least wanted to happen like other crossers, but he has been trying his best to avoid it!

  He understood the danger of guerrilla warfare in the enemy's rear: only when there was an absolute disparity in strength would large-scale guerrilla warfare occur! The people's guerrilla warfare is a manifestation of their refusal to surrender! Later generations only know that by pulling a string, they can blow up a piece of land when the enemy passes by, but in reality, among ten brave warriors who pull the strings, it is rare for one to survive! Those heroes of the sparrow war could shoot and kill an enemy and then run away with the enemy's body, exhausting them to death. However, in reality, due to the backwardness of weapons and lack of training, the enemy often didn't even hit the attacker themselves but instead sacrificed under the hands of better-equipped and trained enemies!

  Tan Xiao quietly slid down two lines of tears, he remembered in the later generations, still a new soldier, the instructor took them to a nameless hero monument "...... The most important thing for soldiers is honor! In front of you, the people buried here, they fought as bravely as the heroes you read about in your textbooks, many people have forgotten them! Even many people don't know them at all! They were guerrilla fighters fighting in enemy-occupied areas, they sacrificed themselves in unrecorded battles, their bodies were brutally desecrated by the enemy, they did not receive the military honor they deserved! But they are heroes among heroes!......

  Now, Tan Xiao personally trained a team, and they killed such a batch of unknown heroes! Maybe, without this attack, they would have sacrificed elsewhere, would have been sacrificed in the hands of other national army troops... But maybe, originally there were people among them who could hold on until the day when New China was established! Tan Xiao's heart, as dead as ash, can no longer hold so much guilt!

  Yes, there are always sacrifices to be made and prices to be paid... The Xiangxi Guerrilla Force had fought in the real enemy's rear, sometimes with only a few hundred people left. He Long also often wore plain clothes to cross the enemy's blockade line... In the Jiangnan Guerrilla Force, Chen Yi had even written on the edge of sacrifice: "This time, I will gather my old troops at Quan Tai, and ten million flags will behead Yan Luo"! However, these cannot become his excuse or comfort. When these sacrifices happened in front of him, caused by himself, he collapsed!

  He, a traverser, because of these pioneers' growth into "today's" lieutenant general, but the stars on his shoulders were originally polished with the blood of these pioneers! Their spirits in heaven cannot rest in peace!

  Suddenly, Tan Xiao remembered something. He wiped away his tears in front of the mirror and then rushed to the telecommunications room like a madman. He was afraid: although he hadn't seen any identity verification, he was really afraid that something unacceptable would happen!

  In the telegraph room, he saw all the excited staff officers constantly receiving new battle reports, among them was He Shaotang. He Shaotang had reported for duty two days ago, but did not directly become the chief of staff - He Yingqin would not allow it. The back door should not be walked through too loudly, anyway, Ji Ping himself understood when to yield his position!

  He Shaotang, who had just been promoted two ranks to become a mid-ranking officer, saw Tan Xiao walk in with a dark face and was startled: "Commander, our troops have won a great victory!"

  The entire staff room was immersed in a joyful celebratory atmosphere, but when Tan Xiao saw He Shaotang, he suddenly felt a chill: they were now in the Wild Battle First Division, and it was hard to say how many special agents from the Special Operations Department were among those new faces! He couldn't be sad! He didn't have the right to be sad - the sacrifices of those martyrs were all his fault!!!

  He had no way of making himself laugh out loud. As he looked at his frightening expression, everyone gradually put away their joyful expressions...

  No way, this won't do! Can't laugh it off, but this won't do... At least need an excuse...

  "Give me the list of casualties and injuries on both sides!" Tan Xiao said coldly.

  Thank goodness, he finally found a reason to be unhappy about.

  "Two leopards and two flower-faced cats are all injured..." he said with a bitter face.

  "What's with the flower face cat, leopard head......?" He Shao asked with a bewildered expression.

  Tan Xiao squeezed out a wry smile: "In infantry battles, the focus of both sides' attacks is on each other's heavy machine gunners. Those veteran heavy machine gunners who have survived countless battles may have shields to protect them, but their faces are generally scarred, with missing teeth, eyes, noses, and mouths that have been grazed by bullets... In short, after fighting for a long time, they don't have a good face left - these are the 'flower-faced cats'. Those who can survive under enemy artillery fire often have heads blown open and bleeding from shotgun pellets and shrapnel, missing ears and scalp - these are the 'leopard heads'. Such veteran heavy machine gunners are very rare! They rely on instinct to know when to shoot, when to hide and transfer, and where the enemy's bullets are coming from! Our entire division has only two 'flower-faced cats' and two 'leopard heads'! I wouldn't trade one of them for a hundred new recruits!"

  The painful smile on Tan Xiao's face finally allowed him to frown properly: "Get the battle report in order and submit it to Commander Zhan, I still need to meet with those arms dealers, I'll leave this to you!" He patted He Shaotang's shoulder and walked out by himself.

  A man drove back to his home in the old city of Lingling, dismissed all the servants, and finally Tan Xiao could cry out loud... The sky was already dark, crying until there were no more tears to flow, Tan Xiao sat stupidly thinking, thinking even more: What if he was sent to fight against the Red Army due to his unit's excellent combat capabilities? ... Due to the "clairvoyant" ability of the traverser, perhaps, if the Battle of Shanghai occurred as scheduled and he commanded this battle, he would choose to abandon Shanghai; in that case, he would become a national traitor! A traitor who sells out the country!... If, at the beginning of the war, he suggested withdrawing all coastal industries, then he would be determined by his superiors as undermining military morale! ... The traverser also has a very sad side: he cannot control how big the wind will blow with his butterfly wings, and where the wind direction is; he knows what is the correct choice, but these choices may not be understood by people...

  Tan Xiao now wants to find someone to confide in, but he knows that only he himself has traveled through time. Tan Xiao now wants to drink wine, like the unhappy times of later generations, and get drunk with his comrades, but he is afraid that after drinking, he will talk nonsense and do things that affect the mission in his heart...

  A person, in a lonely space, is surrounded and eroded by piercing sorrow, boundless resentment...

  (The author: The most difficult chapter to write so far, I want to stick as close to history as possible, but some things can't be avoided. How should I deal with the expression method?... This chapter took two days to write.)