Chapter 19: Beheading the General and Snatching the Flag (Part 2)

  April 6th, around 4 o'clock in the morning. Inside a small stone house in Taierzhuang.

  Since receiving the bad news that Wen Songyuan and others were in a precarious situation, Cheng Jiaji met with Yu Juncai and Gao Shiqi for a while but couldn't come up with any good solution. Then Cheng Jiaji locked himself in this small room alone, and others tactfully didn't dare to disturb him.

  Just because others didn't come to disturb Cheng Jiaji, it doesn't mean they weren't concerned about the decision he was about to make. Outside the small stone house, all the regimental and above officers of the Independent 100th Regiment were waiting there. Even Xie Hong, the nominal highest commander in the Taiyuan area, couldn't care less about his identity and specially dispatched several officers from the front command post to gather information there. At this time, if a Japanese shell landed on that small open space, the Independent 100th Regiment would be paralyzed.

  Cheng Jiaji hesitated. He was hesitant about whether or not to rescue Wen Songyuan, who had recklessly advanced alone and now seemed doomed.

  At this time, Cheng Jiaji was in a dilemma of advancing and retreating.

  If troops were sent to rescue Wenchongyuan, it would not only completely disrupt the battle plan that had been approved for the war zone earlier. Even with just the 2,000 exhausted soldiers in hand now, it was very dangerous. The other side was a cavalry brigade, and if infantry were dispatched at night, once they suddenly encountered the enemy's prepared ambush, the troops would be defeated in the dark, and everything would be over.

  If they didn't send troops, Cheng Jiaji really couldn't bear to part with Wen Songyuan, who although often caused trouble, was quite loyal and brave in battle.

  Although he has only been here for a few months, Cheng Jiaji still has feelings for this careless little Wenzi. This may be the only one among the high-ranking military officers of the 100th Independent Brigade who is wholeheartedly willing to follow Cheng Jiaji's arrangements.

  Originally, Cheng Jiaji looked down on the behavior of privately cultivating and promoting his own people, from the chairman to his brother-in-law who was also a military commander. However, after becoming the commander of a brigade and fighting several battles, he thoroughly understood the helplessness of these people through bloody facts. It's hard to predict human hearts; if a commander doesn't have a few trusted and capable subordinates in the army, how can they command effectively?

  Among the four regimental officers of the 100th Travel, the director of the Political Department, Xi Li Jiao, is a pedantic old literati and a newcomer to the place, so he can't be counted as one of them. Gao Shiying, although currently close to himself, is still somewhat considerate on ordinary days. However, if there's any wind or grass movement, it's hard to say whether he'll stand firmly on his side. With Cheng Jiaji's understanding of Gao Shiying, this experience is too rich, and the city is too deep, with a small heart, the regimental chief of staff is mostly looking around and following the wind. This can be seen from the fact that when asking him what strategy to use next, he always says some useless nonsense. However, he does have the guts to do something despicable, after all, there's Xia Weimin behind Cheng Jiaji. Gao Shiying's family is still on the ground in Zhejiang.

  Yu Juncai doesn't even need to be mentioned, this guy on the surface is obedient to himself, but in the future, if there's an opportunity to push him down the river, it's hard to guarantee that he won't be the one. This can be seen from Yu Juncai's conversation with himself earlier, where his eyes flashed with ambition and a desire for power. The 40th regiment's military flag was lost in the hands of the enemy, but all of this is about to end soon. As long as Lieutenant Colonel Gaku gives the order, those dozen or so remaining Japanese soldiers on that small hill will be reduced to ashes. As for that flag, it doesn't matter if it's not in Lieutenant Colonel Gaku's hands, as long as it doesn't fall into the hands of the Chinese military and is taken to Xuzhou for display. Lieutenant Colonel Kuwabara doesn't need to take much responsibility, at most he'll just be scolded by the division commander for not retrieving the flag.

  "Ready!" As soon as Sōda's hand rose, the artillery commander of the brigade immediately gave the preparatory order. More than a dozen cannons were aimed at the small hill with an area of only a few hundred square meters, and the gunners of various caliber howitzers had already placed the shells above the muzzles with fierce eyes. Just waiting for the brigade commander to drop his hand, the mortar shells would blow the "ignorant" Chinese cavalry on the small hill into pieces.

  The hands of Kuwata Ren's partner, however, did not let go!