Chapter Fifty-Three: Defying Orders

  On September 20, the main force of the Japanese Chahar Expeditionary Army marched south again, and soon they were once again at the gates of Tianzhen Town. Although the Japanese did not immediately launch an attack, it put great pressure on the Sixty-first Army.

  The 61st Army, which had just gone through a fierce battle, had not received much replenishment from the Second War Zone. Not to mention the lack of troops and personnel, the stored ammunition was not enough to support another fierce battle, so Li Fu-en's call for help kept going to Yanmen Pass and Taiyuan.

  The 61st Army belonged to Fu Zuoyi's Seventh Army Corps, so after receiving Li Fuchen's telegram, Fu Zuoyi originally planned to let Chen Feng's 222nd Division immediately move south to occupy the flank of Tianzhen County, in coordination with the defense of the 61st Army.

  But soon Fu Zuoyi received a telegram from the 222nd Division, and the Japanese army had an entire infantry brigade plus a mixed regiment and two puppet cavalry divisions, with a total of more than 18,000 people, equipped with artillery, tanks, aircraft and many other troops, starting from Wanquan and heading west.

  Another Japanese detachment stationed in Zhangbei also dispatched a mixed brigade consisting of an armored regiment and infantry regiment from Zhangbei to Xinghe yesterday.

  After receiving the telegram from Chen Feng, Fu Zuoyi pondered on the map for a while and suddenly furrowed his brow. The Japanese army was completely in an attacking posture, and although the main force of Chahar's dispatched troops was now in Tianzhen, they could go north to participate in the attack on Chen Feng's troops at any time.

  If that's really the case, then the situation of the 222nd Division would be precarious. Although the 222nd Division is a Class B division, it has just been expanded for less than ten days, and the supplementary troops and equipment promised by the Second War Zone are still on the way. In Fu Zuoyi's opinion, the current 222nd Division is only an empty shell of a division, with actual troop strength of no more than one regiment.

  Moreover, this regiment had just gone through a fierce battle. To say nothing of confronting the 20,000-strong Japanese army on two fronts, even an infantry brigade would be enough to make the 222nd Regiment drink a pot.

  It's not about how to reinforce the 61st Army with the 222nd Division now, but rather how to find a way to reinforce the 222nd Division. Compared to the 61st Army, the 222nd Division is obviously more important, because this division has already been registered at the old man in Nanjing, and its own superior officer Yan Da also attaches great importance to this unit. If they watch with their eyes open as this division is eaten away by the little devils, neither side can explain itself.

  The main force of the Seventh Army Group is now at Yamenguan, about two days' journey from Xinghe, while the Japanese vanguard has almost reached the junction of Wanquan and Xinghe, and reinforcements may not arrive in time.

  After some deliberation, Fu Zuoyi finally decided to order the 222nd Division to withdraw from Xinghe immediately and avoid the Japanese army's sharp edge.

  Telegram sent to Xinghe, Chen Feng replied to Fu Zuoyi, the 222nd Division independently shouldered the responsibility of defending the land and resisting war, and would not retreat under any circumstances. This is because this place is Chen Feng's hometown, as well as the hometown of the vast majority of soldiers in the 222nd Division. Even if the whole army is destroyed, they will not be like Zhang Hanqing (Zhang Xueliang). The 222nd Division has made preparations for the final battle with the Japanese army.

  After receiving Chen Feng's telegram, Fu Zuoyi was furious and scolded Chen Feng in the headquarters, saying that this little rascal did not understand the overall situation. The Japanese army is now openly attacking Tianzhen, but its actual target is his 222nd Division. The Japanese army is at its peak, and if it were to clash head-on with them, it would be unwise.

  Moreover, the main force of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army is now concentrated in Yingxian and Daixian to defend against the 5th Division of Bo Guangzheng's 4th Route Army. Even the elite 35th Corps of his 7th Group Army has been transferred to the Shanxi-East defense line, leaving no troops available for reinforcement in Xinghe. Furthermore, Xinghe is just a small county town with no natural defenses, making it impossible to hold out against the enemy's attack. The withdrawal of the 222nd Brigade is inevitable, and now is the best time to retreat before the Japanese army closes in.

  Chen Feng was determined to fight the Japanese devils to the death, no matter how Fu Zuoyi advised or ordered him, it was all in vain. This made Commander-in-Chief Fu very angry. He had been a soldier for over 30 years and had never seen such a stubborn donkey. With an attitude of "a dead pig is not afraid of boiling water", he refused to retreat, what could you do with me?

  Helpless, Fu Zuoyi had to report to the Second War Zone Headquarters, letting Yan Xishan handle his future son-in-law himself, he really had no other choice.

  Yan Xishan furrowed his brow after receiving Fu Zuoyi's telegram. In his opinion, Xinghe was a poor place, a small county town with little land and few people, the entire county had less than 100,000 people, losing it wouldn't be a big deal. If they were to sacrifice Chen Feng's troops for this small county town, it would clearly not be worth it.

  Yan Xishan considered for only a few minutes before ordering his deputy to send a telegram to Chen Feng's unit in the name of the Second War Zone Headquarters, commanding the 222nd Division to withdraw to Jining immediately without fail.

  This old man felt good about himself and thought that as the commander-in-chief of this war zone, he would personally issue a statement, thinking that the little bastard wouldn't dare to resist.

  But soon Yan Laoxi's face turned iron-blue, not because the 222nd was disobeying his orders, but because they were not receiving the telegram he sent. The telegraph operator said that the 222nd Brigade had entered a state of radio silence, and he could not find the signal from the 222nd Brigade's radio station.

  The little devil is under heavy pressure from the big army, but has not yet launched an attack. Now it's in a state of radio silence, clearly unwilling to be disturbed, wholeheartedly defending its own small territory.

  Helpless, Yan Laowu could only think of ways to reinforce this little mixed kid. No way, who let the current 222 division be a heroic unit that he and Nanjing jointly supported, it is a banner of national resistance. If this banner falls, it will inevitably be a major blow to the national anti-war enthusiasm.

  "What has happened to the supplementary troops for the 222nd Division?" Yan Xishan asked with a frown.

  The deputy officer on the side hastily replied: "We have already passed Datong, with a total of 8 new recruit battalions and 1,088 people. At the same time, we also sent to the 222nd Division 2,000 new-style rifles, 30 light and heavy machine guns, 300 submachine guns, and one million rounds of various ammunition, worth $150,000."

  "Which battalion is escorting it?" Yan Xishan asked again.

  "Reporting to the general, it is a guard battalion in the war zone, with more than 500 people."

  "Order this guard regiment to immediately join the combat sequence of the 222nd Division, and urgently dispatch a cavalry regiment from Dai County to reinforce the 222nd Division. Also send another telegram to the Seventh Army Group, ordering them to immediately move their troops to the left of Yun and right of Yu, ready to reinforce the 61st Corps and the 222nd Division at any time."

  Chen Feng also knew that retreating now was the wisest choice, after all, Xinghe didn't have much value to defend. The place had little land and poor people, and the county town was small and pitiful, so even if it were occupied by the devils, it wouldn't be a big deal. Moreover, all the fellow villagers in Xinghe County had their own backup residences, and if necessary, the whole county could move underground, letting the devils guard an empty county town, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

  But unfortunately, there is a task at hand, and the constraints of that damn system are right there. Once the little devils occupy Xinghe County, the mission to defend Xinghe County will be thoroughly failed, which is something Chen Feng absolutely cannot tolerate.

  At 3:00 pm on the 20th, a emergency meeting of division-level military cadres of the 222nd Division was held in Xinghe County.

  The meeting began with Chen Feng giving a brief report on the enemy situation: "Everyone, the little devils are not dead yet. Two large armies are attacking our military base. One route is led by Japanese general Abe Kikuji, with a total force of approximately 18,000 people, including more than 11,000 Japanese soldiers and the rest are puppet troops. This route of Japanese troops launched from Wanquan, has already crossed the Dongyang River and Xiyang River, and occupied Chaigou Fortress. At most, they can enter Gaomiaozi by tomorrow. The commander of the other route is unknown, with one armored regiment and one infantry regiment, a total force of approximately 1,600 people, equipped with more than 40 tanks. This route of Japanese troops departed from Zhangbei, has already arrived at 25 kilometers north of Shangyi, at their speed, they can arrive in Shangyi tonight, and by tomorrow morning, they can reach the city of Xinghe."

  "Gentlemen, Xinghe may not be a strategic location, but it's my hometown and the hometown of most of our brothers in the 222. If we can't even protect our own home, how can we talk about resisting Japan? We absolutely cannot let the little devils occupy Xinghe. Everyone think carefully about how to fight this battle!" Chen Feng said loudly.

  "Commander, the little devils have come prepared this time, with over 20,000 troops in two routes, and they're also equipped with planes, artillery, and tanks. It seems that the little devils are determined to win, and it looks like we'll be having a tough battle this time." Li Wensheng said with furrowed brows.

  "The little devils are indeed a must for our 222nd Division, but I'm afraid they've come up empty-handed again this time." Chief of Staff Yang Yi said with a smile.

  "Oh, it seems our chief of staff has already got everything under control. Tell me, how is the little devil going to scoop water with a bamboo basket?" Chen Feng asked with a smile.

  "It's simple, don't look at the little devils' current momentum, but after careful analysis, it can be seen that the little devils actually don't have many advantages. In terms of troops, there are 20,000 Japanese and puppet armies, but only about 13,000 Japanese troops have real combat power, and the remaining 7,000 are puppet armies. The puppet army is fine when fighting a winning battle, but once they encounter a big and tough battle, they become soft eggs. Our 222nd Division has expanded its forces several times, with a total strength of no less than 25,000 people, so we won't be outnumbered by the enemy in terms of troops.

  In terms of weapons and equipment, we are not inferior to the Japanese army. The Japanese army brought an artillery battalion this time, but we also have our own artillery regiment. The Japanese army has a tank unit, but we have our own "earth dog" unit. The Japanese army has planes, but we have just received high-altitude machine guns. Moreover, the Mauser rifles in the hands of our soldiers are better than the Type 38 Arisaka rifle used by the Japanese army, and the Czech-style light machine gun is also better than the Japanese army's "crooked handle" machine gun. With the advantage of defending on familiar ground, the morale of our soldiers is high, so we can say that in no aspect are we inferior to the little devils.

  Furthermore, we have a commander like Shi Zhe who is as wise as Zhuge Liang, so how can the Japanese army not be defeated?" Yang Yi smiled and explained, and finally gave Chen Feng a small slap on the back.

  These days, Ao Tian has been busy taking part in job exams and updates have stopped for two days. I'm really sorry about that. However, it's worth celebrating that Ao Tian's application to the TV station has been successful! With a written exam score of third place and an interview score of fifth place, Ao Tian was accepted by the TV station with an overall score of third place. Now all that's left is the physical examination, after passing which Ao Tian can start working. Everyone please be happy for Ao Tian!!!!!