Chapter 5: The Great War is Coming

  "But, Comrade Tuan, have you considered that if the Japanese army really has ulterior motives?" Zhang Xinghan asked urgently.

  "He dares? Just because he has 600 men from the South Manchurian Railway Guard Brigade? I can wipe them out with just one regiment." Wang Tien-han said calmly and confidently.

  Zhang Xinghan nodded silently, and did not persuade him again, because he really did not know how to persuade Wang Tiehan to make preparations in advance. He could not tell him that the Japanese army would attack on September 18th, after all.

  Moreover, Zhang Xinghan also realized that even if the entire Seventh Brigade was fully prepared, without the determination to resist from above, it would still be in vain.

  Moreover, now the senior officers of the entire Seventh Division seem to lack sufficient awareness of the possibility of a large-scale outbreak of war, which can be seen from Wang Tien-han's performance just now.

  In fact, even Zhang Xueliang, the young marshal of the Northeast Army at that time, believed that the Japanese would not launch a large-scale war because he thought it was not in line with the current interests of the Japanese army. He mentioned this point himself in his later years.

  It seems this matter can only rely on oneself, Zhang Xinghan thought to himself.

  After saluting Wang Tien-han with a military salute, he bid farewell and left.

  As he walked out of the team department, Zhang Xinghan walked towards the camp while lowering his head in deep thought.

  His third battalion was a full-strength main force battalion, with more than 700 troops. If deployed properly, there was still hope of winning the impending Beida Camp defense battle, Zhang Xinghan thought to himself.

  Only after solving the problem of the Japanese army's second independent guard brigade, which was attacking Beidaying, could Zhang Xinghan free up his hands to rescue Shenyang.

  Because there are thousands of troops and police in the city of Fengtian, with the largest arsenal in the country, the ammunition stored in the arsenal is enough to expand several new divisions.

  Only by obtaining these did Zhang Xinghan manage to turn the tide of defeat, because his bullet production machine can now produce bullets and shells.

  So at this stage, he must get a large number of guns and artillery from Shenyang Arsenal and within the city walls.

  The distance from Tuanbu to Zhang Xinghan's third battalion headquarters was not far, about 400-500 meters. In just a few minutes, Zhang Xinghan returned to his own battalion headquarters.

  At this time, a small yellow light bulb in the battalion headquarters emitted a weak light, so that the entire battalion was not overwhelmed by darkness.

  Zhang Xinghan walked into the camp, and the communication soldier Xiaoli hurriedly came to salute: "Camp commander, you're back!"

  "Hmm, what about Deputy Regimental Commander Liu?" Zhang Xinghan asked.

  "Deputy Battalion Commander Liu took the engineers out," Little Li replied.

  "Ah." Zhang Xinghan knew that Liu Jianguo had gone to bury landmines according to his own instructions, nodded, and was about to sit down when the phone at the regimental headquarters suddenly rang.

  Xiao Li quickly ran over and picked up the microphone: "Hello, we are the Third Battalion, who is this?"

  On the other end of the phone, a middle-aged man wearing a silk Chinese tunic said in a calm tone: "Hello, I'm Zhang Yuxi. I'm looking for your battalion commander."

  "Oh, it's Old Master Zhang. Please wait a moment, I'll get our camp to answer the phone." Little Li's tone suddenly became respectful.

  Xiao Li Zi's words were all heard by Zhang Xing Han, but he didn't take the initiative to come forward.

  "Boss, your father is on the phone looking for you." Little Li Zi turned his head and reported to Zhang Xinghan.

  "My dad?!" Zhang Xinghan was shocked by the words. Since the troops were only given a holiday once a month, Zhang Xinghan had not returned to his "own" home in Fengtian City since he crossed over, and naturally, he had not seen his parents, who only existed in part of his memories.

  "What are they calling for at this time?" Zhang Xinghan was a bit puzzled, but still walked over and took the phone from Little Li: "Hello, Dad."

  "Xing Han, I'm asking you, didn't you beat up two Japanese hoodlums in Fengtian City today?" Zhang Yuxi asked abruptly on the phone.

  "Hmm, they bullied an old man on the street and I happened to see it, so in a fit of rage, I taught them a lesson." Zhang Xinghan replied truthfully, though he didn't know how his father knew.

  On the other end of the phone, Zhang Yuxi's face turned iron-gray with anger: "You, you just know how to act impulsively and cause trouble. Don't you know that Sino-Japanese relations are so tense right now? How dare you still go provoke the Japanese?"

  "Dad, as a soldier, I saw our countrymen being beaten by the Japanese on the street. How could I just sit back and do nothing? What I did was simply fulfilling my duty as a soldier." Zhang Xinghan said with righteous indignation.

  On the other end of the phone, Zhang Yuxi's tone softened after listening to Zhang Xinghan's words, and he said in a gentle voice: "I understand what you're saying, but Xinghan, a good man doesn't take advantage of the situation at hand. The Japanese killed General Zhang at Huanggutun, didn't General Zhang's son also swallow his anger? You should understand, your father only has two sons, you and Xinghua, and I don't want anything to happen to either of you."

  Feeling the heartfelt concern and love from his unseen father on the other end of the phone, Zhang Xinghan's heart warmed up, saying: "Dad, I understand what you said, I'll be careful in the future."

  On the other end of the phone, Zhang Yuxi nodded in satisfaction and said, "Don't worry too much about this matter either. Before I called you, your Uncle Wang had already told me that they have suppressed the situation, so you won't get into any trouble. Just take care of yourself and come back home to visit me and your mother when you're free. After all, Erge isn't at home, so it's better for your mother not to think about you all day."

  "Oh, okay." Zhang Xinghan nodded: "Then you and your wife take care of yourselves, that's all." After finishing speaking, he hung up the phone.

  After hanging up the phone, Zhang Xinghan walked out of the camp with a heavy mood, gazing at the starry night sky and muttering to himself: With the moral character of the Japanese, this time they actually suffered losses without taking advantage of the opportunity to retaliate and threaten. It seems that the great war is really coming soon.

  One night without words, Zhang Xinghan slept well, although he knew that a big battle was imminent, but also had to eat and drink enough, sleep fully to have the spirit and physical strength to face the next battle.

  So after washing up, Zhang Xinghan had the orderly bring the breakfast that the cookhouse had prepared for him to his own independent bedroom, and he started eating a delicious breakfast.

  Zhang Xinghan slept soundly, eating a fragrant breakfast, while Liu Jianguo, as the deputy battalion commander, and dozens of workers and soldiers in the whole battalion did not have such good luck.

  They fought all night and finally completed the mine-laying task assigned by Zhang Xinghan.

  Just then, Zhang Xinghan was savoring his breakfast when Deputy Regimental Commander Liu Jianguo walked in with a tired look on his face. His eyes, which were usually bright and piercing, were now bloodshot and dull, looking extremely haggard and exhausted.

  "Founded a country, done with it?" Zhang Xinghan looked up and asked Liu Jianguo.

  "Uh, as you ordered, all the open spaces in our camp's vegetable garden have been mined with landmines and tripwired hand grenades." Liu Jianguo replied with a yawn.

  "Alright, well done." Zhang Xinghan finally cracked a smile, pointing to the remaining breakfast on the table in front of him and said: "Hurry up and have some breakfast, after you're done, you and the brothers all go take a nap, get your spirits up for me, there's going to be a fierce battle ahead."

  "What a fierce battle?" Liu Jianguo looked at Zhang Xinghan with suspicion, but after a night of hard work, his stomach was growling with hunger. As soon as he sat down, he hastily picked up the steamed buns and porridge on the table and began to devour them voraciously.

  "Yes, a fierce battle." Zhang Xinghan nodded as if in response and also as if to himself.

  ……………

  September 17, 1931, 3:30 pm, Beidaying Camp of the 620th Regiment, Northern City of Shenyang.

  At this time, the sun had begun to slant, and the not-too-strong sunlight would stretch out the shadows of the three camps' officers and soldiers gathered in the open space of the barracks.

  In the camp, more than 700 officers and men of the 3rd Battalion were led by Battalion Commander Liu Jianguo, lined up in seven neat rows. The soldiers wore clean blue uniforms, steel helmets or military caps with a white sun emblem, black cloth shoes with white soles, and neat puttees on their legs.

  They had on their shoulders the Liaoning Type 13 bolt-action rifle, made in Hanyang, (the former was a self-produced rifle model imitated by Shenyang Arsenal from Arisaka and Mauser rifles, which was the main rifle weapon of the Northeastern Army.), On top of the rifle, those sharp bayonets emitted dazzling cold light under the sunlight.

  Under the gaze of all the officers and soldiers, Zhang Xinghan led a few orderlies, carrying several large trunks, striding out of his barracks with his head held high.

  The eyes of all officers and soldiers were attracted by the several large wooden boxes carried by the duty soldiers, and everyone's eyes were filled with doubts.

  Under the gaze of all the officers and soldiers, Zhang Xinghan led the duty soldiers to carry a large wooden box onto the rostrum in front of the team. After mounting the platform, Zhang Xinghan first swept his eyes over the troops below, only to see that they were lined up horizontally and vertically, neat and uniform, all the soldiers were spirited and refreshed, with sharp bayonets gleaming with cold light, a stern and murderous atmosphere spreading out silently.

  They are the most elite troops of the Northeast Army, they are the ace among aces. From this moment on, I, Zhang Xinghan, will rewrite their destiny. They will defend the North Camp with their blood, defending the dignity and glory of the Northeast Army's ace troops.

  From now on, the Northeast Army is no longer a cowardly and timid bunch, but a heroic anti-Japanese iron army! Whether they are alive or dead, their names will be remembered forever!

  With a resolute heart, Zhang Xinghan waved his hand and the several soldiers behind him immediately opened all the large wooden boxes.

  As soon as the box was opened, the piled-up bullets inside immediately emitted a dazzling light under the sunlight.

  Zhang Xinghan picked up a handful of 7.92mm rifle bullets and loudly said to the bewildered subordinates below: "Brothers, from now on, I will provide you with sufficient ammunition, you must give me twelve points of spirit, fight to the death to defend our defense zone, defend the honor of our soldiers."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Xinghan waved his hand again and said: "Infantry, each with 150 rounds of rifle ammunition, machine guns with three bases of ammunition, pistols with 100 rounds of ammunition, mortars with 200 rounds per barrel, now line up to receive!"

  The officers and soldiers under the platform were all stunned. Where did the camp get so much ammunition? Two hundred rounds per mortar? My goodness!

  Although they were puzzled, all the officers and soldiers still executed Zhang Xinghan's orders quickly, lined up in an orderly manner to start receiving bullets and shells. From this, it can be seen that Zhang Xinghan's prestige among them was still very high.

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