Chapter Forty-Five

  When he saw the so-called political commissars of the Longwei Army coming one by one, seeing his soldiers being disorganized and arranged to attend meetings one by one, and then holding small meetings unit by unit, he felt a bit uneasy.

  When he was also told to hold separate meetings, this feeling became even stronger. When he held "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung" and "The Communist Manifesto", he shouted loudly: "Daville, wait for me, I'll come out and kill you, you pig!" Only to hear a voice saying: "Comrade Delyarov, don't use foul language, we are all advanced elements, we must study communism well! Only then can we go out and command troops, only then can we do good for the people!"

  "Yes, yes, I will correct it, sir."

  "Not officials, but comrades."

  "Yes, yes, comrade."

  At this time, I have already moved my army to a small town on the banks of the Ganges Plain, only 20 kilometers away from Rourkela. My vanguard troops have arrived at a place 40 kilometers away from New Delhi. I rejected Davier's suggestion and disagreed with his proposal that the Western Liberation Army should liberate Rourkela. I think it is unthinkable to let the Western Liberation Army turn around and fight against their former comrades. I guarantee that if I gave this order, the morale of the 6th Division would immediately become unstable. After all, people's hearts are made of flesh.

  I have just received a commendation telegram from the General Command, and now I am full of vigor and pride. I looked at my new guard, Chas, who was originally Davier's deputy officer. The original guard, Liu Hu, was demoted by me to be a squad leader in the 53rd Regiment. I chose Chas mainly as a gesture, to let the soldiers of the Western Liberation Army see that they are treated equally and fairly.

  However, Chas is indeed not bad. At one point, I thought he might have been hired as a housekeeper, because he was too serious, responsible, and enthusiastic. I smiled at Chas and said: "Chas, do you have any new information?"

  "Chas said in a more standard tone: 'Not yet, Comrade General.'"

  "I've told you countless times, Chas, call me comrade, not officer!"

  Chas respectfully replied: "Yes, Commander Comrade!"

  I helplessly said: "Alright, alright, I was wondering why Davier was so kind to recommend you to me. Now I finally know."

  Chas listened and was a bit bewildered, saying: "Comrade officer, what did you just say?"

  I rolled my eyes and said, "It's a good thing you're not a Chinese character expert."

  I saw him about to speak and immediately asked: "Chas, can you ask what's the situation with our army's two wings now?"

  "Yes, Comrade Commander."

  I saw him leave and shook my head with a bitter smile.

  At this time, the 40th Army had just walked out of the Tsangnan Valley and stepped onto the Brahmaputra Plain for 10 kilometers. The commander of the 40th Army, Zhou Kai, said: "Let the 157th Division advance quickly, we must reach Kufi Town today."

  "Yes." The aide beside him took the order and immediately went to pass it on.

  Chief of Staff Tian Guangru said: "The 7th Army is really fast, and it's almost arriving in New Delhi."

  Xu Feng said, "Well, let's take advantage of the daylight and hurry up, don't drag it out too long." After finishing speaking, he sighed a little and said, "Tang Ning is really great! Turning the 6th Division around, what a masterstroke!"

  "Indeed, the younger generation is formidable, the younger generation is formidable." said Chief of Staff Tian Guangru.

  Xu Feng said: "We must also work harder, don't let them laugh at us."

  "Alright."

  Commander Xu Feng of the 25th Army was also leading his troops to directly insert into the eastern corridor of Xiuzhou. He stood by the road and shouted to the passing soldiers: "The 7th Army is about to dig out the enemy's old nest, comrades! We can't be compared to them, come on!"

  "Alright, General, you take care of it." "Right." "We won't fall behind!" The soldiers all shouted in unison.

  Comrade Zhou Kai nodded and said: "Comrades, come on!"

  In this way, the three armies of Longwei Military divided into three directions and occupied the territory of Xizhou as if it were uninhabited. When the vanguard troops of the 84th Division of the 7th Army arrived at a place 20 kilometers away from Rugel, it was already deep in the night. I knew that the order had been passed on to let the troops rest on the spot. The soldiers had been rushing for a whole day and were very tired. They needed to recharge their energy and prepare for tomorrow's attack, and take Rugel by storm at one go.

  At 4 am, I was woken up by Chas and informed that the 84th Division had been discovered by the Westerners and that Ruger was now in a state of chaos. The 84th Division sent an urgent telegram asking for instructions on whether to launch an immediate attack. I rushed to the temporary command center at the military department, where everyone was already waiting for me. As soon as I arrived, I ordered the 84th Division to launch an immediate attack and instructed the 201st Division to rapidly advance and protect the flank of the 84th Division while attacking Ruger, with the discretion to take action in case of special circumstances. After giving the order, I looked at the map and smiled, saying: "This is also good, I didn't plan to launch a surprise attack anyway, let them have time to prepare, this way it will be more convenient for us to occupy New Delhi."

  Lao Cheng nodded and said: "Yes, that's right! Let those high-ranking officials and die-hard loyalists leave, it will be easier for us to mobilize the local people and control them."

  About half an hour later, I heard the sound of gunfire coming from far ahead, and I knew that the attack had begun.

  The garrison commander of Lugou was originally sleeping soundly, but when he was suddenly informed that the Longwei Army was only 20 miles away from New Delhi, his first feeling was that it was impossible. If the Longwei Army had arrived there, why hadn't there been any movement before? The Sixth Division had already opened fire and counterattacked. In a moment, the chief of staff also came to report that the Longwei Army was only 20 miles away, and he thoroughly believed it. He shouted in his mouth: "Why didn't we hear the Sixth Division's counterattack? What are they doing? Can the Longwei Army fly?"

  The Chief of Staff asked: "Commander, what should we do now?"

  "What to do? Retreat! Can the security police and a few troops here hold back? Hurry up! Order your soldiers to hold on for me, let us have time to retreat, do you know?"

  The Chief of Staff rushed to give orders, and when other high-ranking officials learned of the Prime Minister's actions, they were thoroughly confused, busy collecting their belongings and fleeing for their lives. The entire New Delhi was in an uproar, with batches of people escaping the city. When the 84th Division entered the urban area, their mission was no longer to fight, but to put out fires, capture looters, and by January 17th noon, the situation was brought under control. The remaining citizens locked themselves indoors, afraid to come out, while soldiers patrolled in teams, occupying and controlling major buildings. It's unknown who first played the Western song at home, but soon the whole city was playing it. Soldiers heard it but couldn't enter private homes, so they forcibly turned it off. I had already heard it from afar, and when I entered the city, I was dizzy from listening to it. I thought: Is this what they call fatigue bombing? Sitting in the office chair of Ruger's City Defense Commander, looking at the decorations, I lamented the corruption of capitalism. But the old comrades were not like me; they had already started working, directing various post-entry relief and troop garrison work.