Chapter 26: The Heavenly Army Arsenal

  These people are the elite of Northeast China now, Zhao Xiao Feng knows that if he gets these people, it's equivalent to getting control over Northeast China. But will they willingly follow him in resisting Japan? Zhao Xiao Feng still has no idea.

  "Brothers! As long as everyone is here, that's all that matters! Now the country needs us, the people need us! Although the government's army has run away! The government has handed over our Northeast to the Japanese, but we will not admit defeat! Because we are all good men of the Northeast!" Zhao Xiao Feng shouted again at more than a thousand lecturers from the Wu Tang Hall, his voice was a bit hoarse, but it did not affect anyone's sight or hearing.

  "Commander Zhao! We've all heard about your exploits from Zheng Shan this morning! Now, we're the students of the 11th term of the Military Academy. Except for those who retreated with their troops, there are 1,633 of us left. We've all come to report to you and hope that you'll lead us in driving out the Japanese and recovering our rivers and mountains!" Eye Glasses shouted loudly.

  "Return our rivers and mountains! Return our rivers and mountains! Return our rivers and mountains!......" One thousand six hundred thirty-three people shouted in unison, the surrounding civilians also followed suit.

  Zhao Xiaofeng did not want these elites to fight desperately here, and immediately ordered Ah Lang: "You lead everyone to fight here immediately, and you must not let any Japanese enter Fentian City! Do you understand?"

  "Yes! Commander!" Ah Lang shouted loudly.

  "Charge!" Zhao Xiao Feng shouted to the over 1,600 elite lecturers of Jiangwu Hall: "We will immediately go to the munitions factory, where there are cannons, tanks and planes. We must let those little Japanese taste the flavor of being beaten!" Zhao Xiao Feng suddenly felt hopeful about their prospects.

  At this time, all the students were also in high spirits. They had never had the opportunity to confront the Japanese face-to-face, and they really looked down on those short people!

  The arsenal is just south of Fengtian City, but it covers a large area. Pu has already deployed nearly 1,000 soldiers here, but it's still slightly insufficient. Fortunately, there are also nearly 2,000 transport teams inside busy transporting supplies.

  Zhao Xiaofeng's sudden appearance startled Pu Ye, who asked in surprise: "Commander! Has Xiao Ximen fallen?"

  "No!"

  Zhao Xiaofeng now can be said to have seen the Fentai Arsenal, he only knew that there were many things inside that he wanted to get, but never had the chance to approach it. Now, this place finally belongs to him! He looked around like Liu Laolao entering Daguanyuan.

  "This arsenal was formerly known as the Fengtian Military Arsenal, the Northeastern Provinces Arsenal, the Fengtian Arsenal and the 90th Factory of the Ordnance Bureau!"

  "Huh?" Zhao Xiaofeng said in surprise: "Where is the gun factory? Why haven't I seen it?"

  "Commander!" Pu Jia immediately explained: "The three factories of rifle, shell and cannon were originally located outside the East Gate of Fengtian City. There is a train that can go directly to here!"

  "That's impossible!" Zhao Xiaofeng shouted immediately.

  "Ha ha!" Pu Ye immediately laughed and said: "Commander, don't worry, our people have already moved the rifle factory, artillery shell factory, and cannon factory. They are now on their way to the front slope!"

  "Oh!" Zhao Xiaofeng smiled and said: "Is everything going smoothly?"

  "Haha! Don't mention it!" Pu Ye laughed and said: "According to the commander's instructions, we first arrested Zang Yijie, the supervisor of the arsenal. To save his life, this kid immediately handed over the arsenal to us!"

  "Hmm!" Zhao Xiao Feng said: "This traitor can't be let off easily!" On the list of traitors in Fengtian, the first one was this Zang Shi Yi who had surrendered to Japan.

  "Got it!" Pu Ye laughed and said: "This kid is still being taken care of by the mountain cat at the Young Marshal's mansion!"

  "Right!" Zhao Xiaofeng wondered: "Where have all the workers and technicians from the ordnance factory gone?"

  "Commander, you can rest assured! How could we kill these talents? Now most of them have followed the escort team back to the front slope, only a small number of technicians who want to stay and fight with us are still inside helping to sort out supplies!"

  "Hmm! Good!" Zhao Xiao Feng nodded and asked: "How many planes are here now?"

  "There are 260 in total, but whether they can be used or not is unknown!" Old Man Pu replied.

  "Alright!" Zhao Xiao Feng immediately turned around and said: "Zheng Shan! I'm appointing you as the captain of the flight squadron! Lead 500 people to inspect the planes, if they can be put into combat, make sure to fill them up with oil immediately. The pilots must be divided into two teams, taking turns to launch attacks. I'll send more machine gunners to coordinate with you!"

  "Yes!" Zheng Shan immediately led 500 flight students running towards the airport.

  "Glasses!"

  "Here!" The glasses replied loudly.

  "I hereby appoint you as the commander of the artillery battalion! Immediately lead six hundred men to set up the artillery position, I will send someone to assist!"

  "Yes!" The glasses immediately led the artillery students to rush towards the ordnance factory.

  "Huang Yuehai, Wang Zhengyang" Zhao Xiaofeng called out two more of his own men's names.

  "Arrived!" The two stepped forward.

  "Each of you will take 200 men and form a machine gun company and a mortar company. You must ensure the safety around the ordnance factory!"

  "Yes!"

  "Are you Wang Deqing?" Zhao Xiaofeng asked a sturdy man standing beside him.

  "Yes! Commander!" Wang Deqing stood at attention and shouted.

  "The remaining men will be led by you, immediately form a tank battalion of 300 people, and all the gunners will be selected from among them." Zhao Xiao Feng pointed to the thousand soldiers behind Pu Ye.

  "Yes!" Wang Deqing went to select people with great enthusiasm.

  "Commander, are we leaving only 400 people to guard this place?"

  "No!" Zhao Xiao Feng immediately spoke up: "Leave the entire transportation unit behind, from now on there's no need to transport supplies to the base. Divide the transportation unit into three teams and have them assist the flight battalion, artillery regiment, and tank regiment, as well as take care of logistical support work. You will be in full command. As for the remaining 400 soldiers, I want to take them all away and let them temper themselves in the midst of gunfire!"

  "Yes!" Although Master Pu was not at ease, he had no choice.

  Zhao Xiaofeng then inspected each unit one by one, and instructed the captains of each battalion once again, before leading the soldiers towards the Small West Gate.

  At this time, it was already afternoon. After a round of deployment, the Japanese began to attack again. If there were no sharpshooters from the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army coming to support, Xiaoxi Gate would have fallen long ago. They used those ten German sniper rifles captured from the Japanese to achieve great merits for Zhao Xiao Feng! Those precise bullets were harvesting the lives of enemy officers.

  But the current situation is very unfavorable, because the Japanese Kwantung Army Command has withdrawn all the troops left nearby and sent to attack other cities to encircle Mukden.

  Now it's not just the 2nd Division, 3rd Brigade, 29th Regiment of the Kwantung Army attacking Mukden, but also the 2nd Brigade and the 2nd Battalion of the Railway Guard Unit rushing from Peitaiho are also charging towards Mukden. Moreover, General Honjo Shigeru, commander of the Kwantung Army, ordered: The main force of the 2nd Division in Liaoyang to reinforce the attack on Mukden; The 3rd Battalion of the Independent Guard Unit, which had given up attacking Yingkou, was also ordered to converge on Mukden. The 4th Battalion and the main force of the 2nd Division, 3rd Brigade, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, and the 1st Battalion of the Independent Guard Unit were all gathering towards Mukden.

  Honjō Shigeru's intention was very clear, and he could not occupy Fengtian, so the Japanese would not go there either. Therefore, Fengtian would be a piece of fat meat that the Japanese wanted to get, but it was really too difficult to chew. The Kwantung Army, which had been invincible before, suffered a great loss today! In just one day, the Kwantung Army lost nearly 500 soldiers, which was unbearable for Honjō Shigeru and also unbearable for the Japanese.

  On the same day, the Japanese government held an emergency cabinet meeting. Nishi Toshihirō, Minister of War, emphasized that this was a self-defense action by the Kwantung Army, but Shidehara Kijūrō, Foreign Minister, suspected it was a conspiracy by the Kwantung Army and tried to resolve the incident through diplomatic means. Therefore, in order to eliminate hidden dangers and shut the mouths of domestic advocates for peace, Nishi immediately wired Honjō Shigeru, demanding that he must settle the Mukden Incident within three days.

  At the same time, the Manchurian Provincial Committee of China issued a declaration on Japan's imperialist armed occupation of Manchuria, exposing the aggressive crimes of Japanese imperialism and the guilt of the Nationalist Party in surrendering to imperialism. It pointed out that Japan wants to turn Northeast China into its colony, calling on the people of Northeast China to rise up and resist, drive out the Japanese invaders.

  Facing the Japanese army that was rushing over, Ah Lang was already somewhat exhausted, fortunately Huang Xiansheng had sent over a hundred police troops to assist in defending the city, which stabilized the situation.

  When Zhao Xiao Feng arrived, the Japanese had already thrown down more than 300 corpses under the city wall. The troops responsible for defending the city also lost more than 400 soldiers. The scene was in a mess, with only over 300 people left, almost everyone was injured, and Ah Lang's shoulder was also shot.

  At this time, his own artillery regiment, flying squadron and tank regiment were not yet ready, and the city's defenses did not have any long-range weapons. Fortunately, the walls of Fengtian City were solid and the fortifications were relatively strong, which is why they had not been captured by the Japanese. However, Zhao Xiao knew that if things continued like this, Fengtian City would definitely fall within a day.

  It's no use to be anxious, at this time, the intelligence that the Japanese are gathering at the south gate has been transmitted. Zhao Xiao Feng is almost frantic, at this time, Cao Fei Dian suddenly appeared with more than 600 soldiers of the Seventh Brigade, which gave Zhao Xiao Feng a certain encouragement. Originally, Cao Fei Dian was staying in the brigade department of the Seventh Brigade, and later followed Zhao Zhen Fan's troops to transfer to the rear, although he tried to lead the soldiers to stay behind, everything was under Zhao Zhen Fan's surveillance, so there was no opportunity. Unexpectedly, when retreating to Dongshan Kouzi today, they encountered Japanese reinforcements, dispersing Zhao Zhen Fan's troops, and Cao Fei Dian had the opportunity to lead his troops back to Fengtian City.

  "Take these men and hold the Little West Gate at once!" Zhao Xiao Feng didn't give Grass Flying a chance to rest, immediately giving orders. "We must hold out until our planes take off!"

  "Yes!"

  Zhao Xiaofeng immediately led his 400 men to the south gate, now the city of Fengtian is in a state of chaos, and he cannot contact Zhong Batian, Hong Shan, Shan Mao and others. He only knows that Hong Shan is leading more than 1,000 elite troops towards the Japanese garrison, while Zhong Batian is still commanding at the base, Shan Mao has now arrested all pro-Japanese elements in the city, including Japanese who have not withdrawn, and they are all concentrated in Shao Shuai Fu.

  It was only then that he realized the importance of communication, and he immediately ordered a soldier to "rush to the arsenal and report to Master Pu that I need a batch of communication soldiers. Tell him to contact the lecturers at Wu Tang and have each unit dispatch..."

  "Commander Zhao!" A loud voice rang out in front.

  "How did Huang Xiansheng end up here?" Zhao Xiaofeng was very curious, but still greeted him: "Director Huang, what brings you to the South Gate?"

  "Commander Zhao! Look who's here!" Huang Xian exclaimed excitedly.

  Zhao Xiaofeng had just discovered that there was a person staring at him beside Huang Xiansheng, and this person was also injured, with his arm hanging from his neck. His clothes were disheveled, like a vagrant. So he didn't pay attention to it, but was curious about how so many people suddenly appeared behind Huang Xiansheng.

  "In the lower Zhao town fort!" The man said neatly with a bow.

  "Ah! Colonel Zhao!" Zhao Xiaofeng was startled, and the visitor turned out to be Colonel Zhao Zhenfan, the chief of staff of the 7th Brigade. "Wasn't he dispersed by the Japanese? How did he end up in Fengtian City? With him here, can I still smoothly take command of Fengtian City?"