Chapter 31: The Flying General Rushes to the King's Aid (Part 1)
Thirty-one, The Flying General Rushes to the King's Aid (Part 1)
Tan Xiao's blow to the Japanese was not only this nameless mine, but also in the entire defense zone of the Wild One Brigade, which is the entire Xiangnan, Xiangxi and along the Xiangjiang River radiating to the Xiangzhong area.
Starting from the night when Tan Xiao and his party set off, the sentry posts in the above-mentioned areas suddenly began to check the passing merchants extremely strictly. For those vehicles and boats carrying minerals, the inspection was meticulous, from the quantity to the type of minerals. Anyone who underreported or carried different types of minerals would be detained along with their goods!
In the mining industry, which family is not underreporting and overshipping? Originally, most businessmen were checked and bribed to buy their way out, but now this trick no longer works, as Wild One's army doesn't accept bribery! As a result, countless people have been caught. The happiest person is Wu Sheng, since the opium market declined, the security company's business has gradually shifted to mining transportation, smuggling and procurement. Now with military orders in hand, they can heavily crack down on competitors, showing even more enthusiasm than Wild One's regular army!
Soon, the empty space next to a small dock in Yangjiawan specially prepared for action was filled with ore cars; on the water were whole ships of cargo. As for people, they were all detained in temporary prisons guarded by the regular troops of the First Division.
Tan Xiao returned to the garrison on the second evening and was shocked after reading those reports: the total number of detained merchants and porters exceeded 5,000! As for how to deal with these people and the companies behind them, Tan Xiao had already made arrangements before taking action: For mines operated solely by Chinese nationals, they were required to leave all customer information, sales data, and explicitly informed that any transactions with Japan must be sold at a price 15% higher than the normal market price. If there were any changes in Japanese clients, they would have to report to a special department of the Security Guard Brigade, and then basically just impose a small fine and let them off.
For Sino-Japanese joint ventures, it is explicitly stated to the Chinese shareholders holding a small stake: This time, we are going to deal with the Japanese and make them wait patiently. After getting rid of the Japanese, the government will transfer all the rights originally owned by the Japanese at a very low price to these Chinese shareholders. After all, mining is different from other industries. If a mine is suddenly transferred to another person for operation, without the original owner's leadership, it is easy to have accidents due to unfamiliarity with underground water and geological support. Therefore, unless you want to abandon a mine, it is still better for the original owner to operate it.
As for those who hold a large stake themselves and Japan holds a small stake, we must carefully distinguish whether they are using Japanese funds to operate independently or actually acting as a running dog for the Japanese. The former is fine, while the latter should be handled according to Tan Xiang's method of dealing with Japanese enterprises.
Here is the translation:
The Japanese-owned trading companies and mines were in a terrible state, such as Mitsui & Co., which was found to have reported only one-third of the transportation volume for six batches of minerals. Well, let's use this ratio to calculate the total amount of smuggling and tax evasion from 1918 onwards in Hunan Province, based on current international market prices, and issue a supplementary payment and fine! The amount is so large that it would not be enough to confiscate all of Mitsui & Co.'s assets in Hunan Province, let alone the entire South China. Other Japanese pillar enterprises, such as Yahata Iron Works, are also in a similar situation, and this incident will inevitably have a significant international impact. But Tan Xiang had long been prepared for this: a large number of British, French, American, and German companies were also fined, but they all knew that after the Japanese were defeated, they would have the opportunity to acquire Japanese-owned industries at low prices. Therefore, these foreign companies will express their ignorance of the smuggling and tax evasion behavior of the transportation contractors in the media, and indicate that they will definitely reform and cooperate with the punishment, while highly praising this action as a manifestation of China's progress towards civilization and rule of law.
There is also a group of Japanese businessmen who are particularly special, that is, the Japanese who pretend to be Chinese. They are all directly or externally affiliated with espionage agencies. For these industrial masters, Tan Xiao's handling method is to catch them all, think of ways to extort ransom, squeeze them dry, and then hand them over to the military authorities for processing, to see how much intelligence materials can be extracted; after they are done, they will be handed over to the half-human beasts of the Shan Gou Lian, used as live targets for brutal killing training! The fate of these people is not exaggerated no matter how tragic it is described.
The plan was well thought out, but the reason why so many people were still detained was that more than half of the persons in charge of these divisions were still locked up in the office building of the First Division for confidentiality. So after understanding the situation, Tan Xiao's first reaction was to return to the divisional office building to see if the final draft of the Sino-German cooperation plan had been completed.
Thank goodness! In the two and a half days since Tan Xiao left, with the tireless efforts of both Chinese and German staff working day and night, all the texts have been finalized! Tomorrow morning we can sign the agreement!
The next morning, Tan Xiao, who had fully rested, put on the general's uniform that had been airlifted in and appeared at the signing ceremony with great spirit. Due to this signing work, many people from the Wild One Studio were promoted, and everyone was in high spirits. As for Rong Hui, it was even more surprising that someone who knew her relationship with Tan Xiao came up with an idea: she had actually been promoted to Major General! The promotion order was not signed by a big shot from the Military Affairs Department, but by Chiang Kai-shek himself! However, this signature earned everyone's unanimous recognition: this was the best reward for "international friends"! When Tan Xiao quickly signed his name with a steel pen on the last document, in this time and space, China turned to the most glorious page in its diplomatic history of hundreds of years!
How to deal a crushing blow to the Japanese spy agency in the Hunan region? This is a big thing, but Tan Xiao doesn't think about it at all now. In the corner of the large garden of "Juhuishanzhuang", a newly built reception villa given by Xiangxiangguan to He Shaotang after the celebration banquet, Tan Rong and two people managed to sneak away from the hustle and bustle and gather together for a moment, sticking tightly together.
He gently explored her hair with the tip of his nose, slowly and deeply inhaling the fragrance lingering in those soft strands; she softly rubbed her cheek against his jaw, savoring his masculinity in the stubble... How much longer could they indulge in this tender moment? Three minutes or five minutes? As hosts, they couldn't leave their guests waiting, but they were too caught up in this long-awaited moment to tear themselves away, reluctant to release each other's hands, wanting just one more second, and another...
While the two were indulging in sweet idleness amidst their busy lives, Deputy Officer Tang Fan was sweating profusely as he searched for Tan Xiao everywhere in the crowd with a urgent telegram from Guiyang.
The telegram was finally delivered into Tan Xiao's hands, and when he opened it, he couldn't help but be shocked: Urgent order for the main force of the First Army to rush to Guiyang at full speed! Chiang Kai-shek.
After calming down, Tan Xiao vaguely remembered something from his past life: the Red Army's four crossings of the Chishui River, the feigned attack on Guiyang, and Chiang Kai-shek's great shock and loss of composure, leading to the deployment of Yunnan troops for protection. In this time and space, it was unclear which attendant had come up with the bad idea that the Yunnan army was unreliable and difficult to command, so they decided to deploy the Wild First Division, a highly loyal unit, to Guiyang instead.
Since that's the case, it's a good opportunity to continue scoring. Tan Xiao tried his best to recall the details of the Battle of Four Crossings of the Red Water River that he knew, but there was nothing new to gain. The only thing he remembered was that after the Red Army made a fake attack, the main force quickly retreated southward, and no battles occurred during the process. Well, since that's the case, let's show our loyalty. Tan Xiao deliberately revealed some military information that urgently needed "support for the king". As a result, this celebration meeting ended after both sides' personnel tactfully withdrew from the scene.
From Zeroling to Guiyang, the straight-line distance on the map is less than 500 kilometers, but along the way there are no places that can be borrowed, all of which are walked out. Even slightly farther away from Zunyi, it's more difficult because there's a long section of Wujiang waterway that can be taken by boat to get to Zunyi. At this time, the highway is not the high-speed road of later generations, if there was a high-speed road directly connected at that time, it would have arrived in several hours, and now the route and method of marching are extremely important.
After half an hour of planning by the staff, a departure plan was drawn up. Basically, take the main road, mobilize all the cars and horses in the division, except for some cargo, everything else will be used as mobile rest points. The speed is maintained at 15-20 kilometers per hour, relying on good relations with previous smuggling of opium and arms, the division directly contacts the radio station along the way to solve the problem of changing horses and food. The whole army advances without sleep or rest!
Ye Jianyu's forced march training had reached the level of a modern field army, but to maintain a continuous speed of over 15 kilometers per hour was unprecedented! Moreover, the roads of this era were incomparable to those of later generations: even in cities, there were sections of road that could be called mountain roads by later generations, let alone Guizhou, a place with no three li of flat land!? In order to guarantee the speed of the troops' advance and take care of physiological needs, all original posts such as communications handled by female soldiers were replaced by male soldiers.
The entire army of nearly 4,000 elite troops set out that night and merged with other units stationed in the west along the way, totaling around 6,000 people. The marching method of this army was absolutely shocking: all meals and water intake were taken while on the move, and rest periods were alternately arranged in horse-drawn carriages and cars, with each person's rest time not exceeding two hours! A large team of horses and men rushed forward like crazy, including Commander Tan Xiao, except for German guest Falkenhausen, no one could be treated specially. At this pace and speed requirement, the current National Army is afraid that only the Wild One Division can continue to hold out for a whole day!
This is a great forced march training for the Wild One Division, that's Tan Xiao's idea. But in fact, it's not just training, it's almost fatal! If it weren't calculated that they could arrive in Guiyang within two nights and one day according to plan, no one in the entire staff department would dare agree to such a plan - just walking for two days and two nights would exhaust them to death, let alone fight!? But Tan Xiao approved it, because he knew they wouldn't be able to fight anyway. This is an accelerated forced march exercise to demonstrate loyalty at the fastest speed.
Even if it was a powerful army like the Wild One, after forcing its way to noon on the second day, the phenomenon of disconnection from the team began to appear. At this time, the main officer became the spiritual pillar of the team, and Tang Xiao, who had been wearing his uniform all over his body, did not even go to a mobile rest point once during the night and half-day march! Those friendly relationships who were waiting on the road had already set up wine tables to entertain the officers of the Wild One; unexpectedly, these people, from officials to soldiers, picked up food and continued walking, stuffing their mouths as they walked. Their swift and decisive actions shocked the stationed troops and local tyrants, leaving them staring in amazement.
After an unknown number of troops transporting supplies or marching to the front line, Tan Xiao finally boarded the first horse-drawn carriage at dusk on the second day. He took a horse-drawn carriage, not a better car, because more and more soldiers were approaching their limits, and he wanted to give his subordinates a better chance to recover! At this time, the role of the military propaganda team was revealed. The soldiers in charge of propaganda work timely conveyed the excellent performance of all levels of officers to the advancing soldiers, which indeed had a great encouraging effect. Among these military propaganda soldiers, one person entered Tan Xiao's eyes: the new soldier Lu Xuexin who was very good at showing off in front of Chiang Kai-shek. This new egghead's combat level was not very good, but his endurance was first-rate, and he was full of enthusiasm, it seemed that he was indeed a military propaganda talent. Tan Xiao took a look at his rank, not bad, unexpectedly a sergeant, it seemed that his performance in the military propaganda team was excellent.
The little soldier noticed that Tan Xiao on the carriage was paying attention to him, and he immediately accelerated to come over and salute, and reported the work arrangement: in an hour, the mobile broadcasting station loaded on the military vehicle will start playing songs that soldiers especially like and often sing. Good guy! Absolutely a military propaganda leader! Tan Xiao asked him why he didn't broadcast all day, only now, and still an hour later. His answer was to save battery power, because the logistics carried by the forced march were not many, and they had to be used at critical moments... The little guy didn't know that when he arrived at his destination, he would be promoted to junior lieutenant!
Similar grassroots officers and soldiers with characteristics and passion have been emerging in this extremely arduous march. These people will soon stand out, become the best among their peers who enlisted at the same time, and become the new backbone of the First Field Army. Tan Xiao looked delighted. By midnight, the speed of the march had not slowed down, and after a round of collective singing, the morale of the troops seemed to be even higher.
At this time, Tan Xiao ordered that everyone's rest time be extended by half an hour, but the way of resting could only be semi-reclining on one side, making more space for others. In the crowded and stuffy vehicles, no one would mind the sweat and stench filled in the cramped space, nor would anyone feel being squeezed or pressed by others. Now, everyone finally realized that letting their legs stop and rest was such a happy thing. Some soldiers who were still marching couldn't help but glance at several specially arranged vehicles on which were soldiers who had already fainted from exhaustion. Even some people thought of pretending to be dead to get a rest, and some did so, but the vast majority of soldiers persisted. Leaving the opportunity to rest for their comrades, they could still go on! The regimental commander was doing so, and we could too!
There were often soldiers who, although physically capable, had mentally exhausted themselves to the point of falling asleep while marching, suddenly veering off course and being pulled back into line by others... Even when the unit was turning a corner, there were instances where a group of soldiers continued forward one after another, crashing into the mountain wall... As they advanced, methods were constantly adjusted and improved upon; later on, special personnel were assigned to intercept those soldiers who fell asleep while walking.
Apart from combat skills, the willpower of a troop is very important. After this forced march training, the willpower level of the Wild First Division will surely take another leap!
What is the greatest stimulus for soldiers? Of course it's gunfire!
It was past five in the morning when I heard gunfire ahead!
A gunshot rang out, and all the soldiers who were struggling to stay awake seemed to have woken up! "First team, deploy combat formation!"..."Scout company, search forward!"..."Machine gun company, occupy high ground at two o'clock direction!"..."Snipers, hide freely!"... Orders from different levels were quickly issued among various branches, busy but not chaotic. In just about three minutes, the entire army of over 6,000 people had transformed from a marching formation to an attacking advancing formation!
Tan Xiao's heart was filled with cold sweat at this time: Not another misjudgment, and a collision with the Red Army!?!
In fact, they really did encounter the Red Army, it was an encounter rather than a collision!
They came into contact with the last batch of troops from the Red Army's forces that had been making a fake siege on Guiyang in the eastern suburbs! The troops of the 1st Division were advancing too fast! They had already exceeded the common sense judgment of all military households in this time and space! The Red Army was surprised to find that a branch of the National Army with extremely strong firepower had fired a few shots and quickly escaped from contact, while the troops of the 1st Division could still fight but couldn't run anymore! After the light machine gunners of the 1st Division showed their strength with a burst of suppressive fire, both sides ended the battle without even any casualties!
Soon, the news of Ye Yishi's arrival in Guiyang spread throughout the entire war zone!
Because the Yunnan army troops in charge of defending the east of the city exaggerated the enemy situation, the current Guiyang command has always thought they were surrounded and urged the main force on the west line to advance east desperately. Unexpectedly, the first reinforcement was the Wild First Division from the eastern front!
The siege of Guiyang has been lifted! Chiang Kai-shek, who had not slept for a whole night, finally put down the huge stone in his heart and personally led the attendants and guards out of the command post to welcome this "flying" "loyalist" army. What he saw was less than one platoon of Wild One Division's guards and civilian personnel escorting Falkenhausen to report on military affairs, with Tan Xiang not present. The current Wild One Division has taken over a large section of the original Yunnan Army's defense line and is rebuilding fortifications - those fortifications built by the Yunnan Army are just garbage in the eyes of the officers and soldiers of the Wild One Division!
When Chiang Kai-shek finally understood how the First Division had miraculously appeared, he was truly moved to tears! Because Falkenhausen didn't want to make a fuss, he briefly reported to Chiang Kai-shek on the process of the First Division's departure and arrival: after receiving a telegram from the celebration banquet for signing an important contract, they set out within an hour; they marched day and night without rest for two nights and one day, breaking through the Red Army's "encirclement" and entering the "heavy encirclement"; now they are not resting but have taken over the Yunnan army's defense line and are fighting on the front lines!
Among the national army generals, in terms of ability and loyalty, who can match Tan Xiaotang?
Although he knew clearly that the Red Army would not attack again, Tan Xiao still ordered the whole army to establish the standard defense position of the First Field Army at the fastest speed: this was the last question of the examination. If a force rushes to hurry, there is only one reason, to engage in battle! So after arriving, the first thing is not to rest, but to prepare for battle! This is a habit that must be cultivated throughout the army!
At noon, Chiang Kai-shek personally led the entire high-level military officers of the command headquarters to the camp of the First Division to offer condolences after confirming that the Red Army had withdrawn. They met Tan Xiao in a company-level command post almost at the forefront of the position: his hair was stuck together with dry sweat and mud, making him look like a "super Saiyan", and the sweat flowing down his face condensed into tiger stripes on the thick layer of ash; he held a steel helmet in his left hand and rested his right hand on an MP-18 submachine gun - he was asleep. Several soldiers were also sleeping beside him, and as far as the eye could see, all the soldiers in the trenches were leaning against the walls, sleeping, with only Tan Xiao's bodyguards keeping watch.
Chiang Kai-shek stood in front of the sleeping Tan Xia, his eyes red-rimmed, without making a sound. His entourage was also silent, standing there for half an hour!
Throughout the entire National Army, which general can make Chiang Kai-shek stand and watch him sleep for half an hour? Tan Xiao has set a new record, one that not many people have the opportunity to challenge!
Perhaps it was because the committee chairman had been standing for too long, when a scout cavalry returned to report on the military situation, Chiang Kai-shek's guards did not block him, and Chiang Kai-shek also allowed him to wake up Tan Xiao.
When Tan Xiao looked clearly at who was in front of him, he really jumped down and hastily stood up to salute. However, Chiang Kai-shek was even faster, and the first one to salute was Chiang Kai-shek! Then, throughout the entire trench, regardless of military rank, everyone began to salute. Chiang Kai-shek took a step forward, his two hands tightly grasping Tan Xiao: "You this muddy monkey..." He said the same words as when they first met. The current Tan Xiao was even more disheveled than when they first met: that stinky smell could suffocate people! But Chiang Kai-shek didn't mind, and instead felt even more moved: Which unit in the entire army, besides Tan Xiao's Wild First Division, could rush to his rescue without sleep or rest? The more wretched Tan Xiao looked, the more loyal he seemed!
Tan Xiao reported to Chiang Kai-shek after hearing the scout's report: "Report to the Commander-in-Chief, the First Division has investigated and found that the Red Bandits who originally surrounded Guiyang are not many, and should be a decoy. This shows that the target of the Red Bandits is not to attack, but to escape. Please approve the entire army of the First Division to pursue the fleeing bandits!"
He thought to himself: You wouldn't have a unit that has been on continuous forced marches go into combat after just a few hours of rest, would you? Tan Xiao had guessed correctly again.
It's not just because the First Corps needs to rest, but more importantly, Chiang Kai-shek currently has no reliable troops by his side. Obviously, the First Corps is even more central than the Central Army and more legitimate than the legitimate troops. Such a troop cannot be left behind, so who else can protect him? So Chiang Kai-shek gave an order, without even listening to Tan Xilin's explanation of why the Field Army would not enter the city, the entire First Corps entered Guiyang for rest!
The author is working hard to meet the deadline, and tonight should be able to produce another chapter. Tomorrow morning will release another chapter, and continue in the evening! Thank you for the support of book friends!
