Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Nanjing, the headquarters of the China Expeditionary Army.

The rain outside the window was drizzling and showed no signs of stopping.

Thick, dark clouds still hung over the top of Zijin Mountain, making it hard to breathe.

Commander-in-Chief General Hata Shunroku felt as if a ray of sunshine had pierced through the clouds, bringing with it a long-lost sense of ease and anticipation.

Just this morning.

He had just seen the operational plan sent by the North China Area Army—"The Concept of the 29th Division Crossing the River to Attack the 88th Army of China."

"Okamura-kun truly lives up to his reputation as the Imperial Army's strategist."

Holding an exquisite bone china teacup, Hata Shunroku looked at the sharp arc drawn westward from Jinan on the map and couldn't help but praise the Chief of the General Staff, Kawabe Masazo, beside him: "Put yourself in a desperate situation and you will survive. Take advantage of the surprise of the Kwantung Army's fresh troops and catch Chu Yunfei off guard."

"If this move to 'turn the tables' succeeds, it will not only lift the siege of Jinan, but could even reverse the decline of North China in one fell swoop!"

Kawabe Masazo also revealed a relieved smile: "Yes, the 29th Division is well-equipped. Once it crosses the Yellow River, even if it is just a regiment, it will be enough to shake the flank of the Chinese army."

"Although the Chinese armored forces are fierce, they are few in number and deep behind enemy lines, with long supply lines. Once they are attacked from the flanks and rear, chaos will surely ensue."

"Ding-a-ling"

Just as the two were feeling optimistic about the prospects of the battle, the red secure telephone on the table suddenly rang shrilly.

Hata Shunroku glanced at the phone, his smile widening: "It must be Okamura-kun."

"Judging by the time, the vanguard of Division Commander Gao should have already crossed the bridge. They're here to report their victory."

He straightened his uniform, calmly reached out, and grabbed the microphone: "Moshi moshi, this is Hata Shunroku."

His voice was steady and powerful, exuding the authority of a commander-in-chief: "Okamura-kun, has the 29th Division already crossed the Yellow River?"

"Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief"

The voice on the other end of the phone was not Okamura Yasuji, but Kitajima Shinichi, Chief of Staff of the North China Area Army.

His voice trembled, was hoarse, and even carried a hint of suppressed sobbing.

"Bad news, our reinforcements are all wiped out..."

Hata Shunroku's smile froze instantly, his hand gripping the microphone tightened suddenly, and his heart skipped a beat, as if he had stepped off the clouds and fallen into an abyss.

"Kitajima-kun! What nonsense are you spouting?!"

Hata Shunroku shouted sternly, "What's over?"

"Where is Okamura-kun? Where is the 29th Division?!"

"Woo."

On the other end of the phone, Shinichi Kitajima broke down in tears, relaying the devastating news that plunged the entire Japanese army into despair:

"Just an hour ago, a large formation of Chinese air force planes launched a surprise attack on the Luokou Yellow River Bridge."

"The bridge is severely damaged..."

"The vanguard of the 29th Division, along with the main beam of the bridge, fell into the Yellow River."

"None of the people on the train survived. The follow-up troops were completely blocked on the north bank and could only cross the Yellow River by boat. Not only that, we also lost a large amount of heavy equipment, including ammunition and shells that the 12th Army desperately needed..."

"Bang!"

The teacup in Hata Shunroku's hand slipped and shattered.

The scalding tea splashed onto his riding boots, but he was completely unaware.

At that moment, he felt dizzy and his ears were ringing. He could barely hear what Shinichi Kitajima said after that.

The bridge is broken.

The road is blocked.

The 12th Army, already lacking supplies, is now even more hopeless.

Under these circumstances, how can we talk about fighting back?

Without the support of the Kwantung Army.

Jinan is a dead city. The main force of the North China Front Army will be divided and surrounded, and the entire North China war situation will completely collapse!
Hata Shunroku snapped out of his daze and asked into the microphone, "Where's Okamura-kun?!"

With such a devastating event occurring, why didn't Okamura Yasuji, the commander of the army group, show up?
On the other end of the phone, Shinichi Kitajima's voice was filled with desolation and helplessness:
"Commander, General Okamura has been working for three days and three nights without sleep in order to formulate that counterattack plan."

"Just half an hour ago, after issuing the order to 'counterattack across the entire front and flank the enemy,' he simply couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep on the sofa in the operations room."

"Fell asleep?"

Hata Shunroku was stunned, his mouth agape, but he couldn't utter a sound.

“Yes,” Kitajima Shinichi choked out, “Commander Okamura slept soundly, a smile still on his lips. He probably dreamt of the 29th Division crossing the river, of the victorious counterattack, of our great Japanese brother nation achieving final victory…”

"This humble servant... this humble servant really can't bear it, nor dares to wake him!"

"This subordinate doesn't know how to tell him. His counterattack plan has completely failed before it even began!"

"Your reinforcements, Commander, have already been fed to the fish in the Yellow River."

Hearing the crying coming from the microphone, Hata Shunroku slowly slumped into a chair, his eyes empty and lifeless.

Too cruel.

In his dream, Okamura Yasuji commanded thousands of troops in a desperate counterattack, but in reality, his army had been cut off north of the surging Yellow River.

When he wakes up, he will not be greeted by the dawn of victory, but by an abyss of no return.

This kind of fall from the clouds to hell is enough to destroy anyone's spirit.

"Don't wake him."

Hata Shunroku muttered to himself, his voice sounding as if he had aged twenty years: "Let him dream a little longer."

"Because after waking up, it will be the nightmare of the Great Japanese Empire."

"In this war, we have lost all hope of winning; all that's left is to endure it!"

Kawabe Masazo looked at Hata Shunroku, who seemed to have aged ten years in an instant, and carefully picked up the broken teacup from the ground: "Commander-in-Chief."

He Bianzheng's voice was low and somber: "Now that reinforcements from the north have been cut off, is there any need to hold Jinan?"

"Without external support, the 12th Army, along with the remnants of the 59th Division, would likely be unable to withstand the encirclement by the overwhelming Chinese forces."

Hata Shunroku slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with a look of desperate struggle: "Defend, we must defend!"

He gritted his teeth and said, word by word, "Although the Kwantung Army can't get through, there are still tens of thousands of Locust Army soldiers and Locust Army auxiliary troops on the Quancheng defense line, as well as strong city defense fortifications!"

"Even if it becomes a dead city, it must be nailed to the Jinpu Railway like a nail, tying down Chu Yunfei's main force!"

"As long as the Jinpu Railway remains in our hands, North China will not have been completely transformed!"

"Send a telegram to Commander Tsuchibashi immediately!"

"He is required to be utterly loyal to His Majesty the Heavenly Locust."

Kawabe Masazo immediately nodded: "Hai!"
-
At the same time, Yamashiro.

Stilwell's office.

Colonel Dorn, the adjutant, knocked lightly on the door and came in to report, "General, the plane is ready, and we can take off for Changzhi at any time."

Stilwell didn't get up immediately. Instead, he took off his glasses, rubbed his tired eyes, and casually tossed the telegram onto the table with a soft "thud."

"Frank, have you seen that intelligence report about the 'Toungoo Referendum'?" Stilwell's voice carried a hint of sarcasm. "Our ally in the mountain city, that Chairman, thought he could fool us by stamping the document with a 'top secret' red seal."

Dorn shrugged: "In the mountain town, secrets are like leaky walls."

"The OSS (Office of Strategic Intelligence) report says that this is not only Chang Ruiyuan's idea, but also the Chu Zhanshuai's idea behind it. They want to turn Dongyu into China's fifty-third province."

"Hmph, quite the appetite."

Stilwell put his glasses back on, stood up, and walked to the wall covered with maps.

His gaze fell on the border between Toungoo and Yunnan, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

As an American, and especially as an executor of President Roosevelt, he was pleased to see the crumbling colonial system of the British Empire dismantled.

Those arrogant British were a disaster in the war, and it was in America's interest to get rid of them.

It also meets the needs of combat troops after the war.

“We want to see a strong China to contain Japan, but that doesn’t mean we want to see a new ‘Asian empire’ rise right under our noses and become completely out of control.”

Stilwell turned around, took a thick stack of documents from the safe, and slammed them heavily on the table.

What he took out was not a battle plan or a troop deployment map, but a dense collection of economic reports and financial data analysis.

Stilwell pointed to the pile of documents and asked, "Frank, do you know what this is?"

"Is this the latest aid application submitted by Minister T.V. Soong?" Dorn guessed.

“A survey report on inflation, fiscal deficits, and industrial output.” Stilwell casually flipped to a page, pointed to the alarming red curve, and his tone became stern: “Look at these numbers!”

"The price index has skyrocketed."

"In the black market of the mountain town, the price of a bag of rice is different in the morning and evening."

"Their fiscal revenue can't even cover a fraction of their huge military spending; they rely entirely on printing money and our 'blood transfusions' to stay afloat."

Stilwell paced back and forth in the room like a raging lion: "Chu Yunfei is a military genius, I don't deny that. He fought brilliantly on the front lines, you could even say brilliantly."

"The idea of ​​recovering Qiongzhou and even holding a referendum in Dongyu sounds incredibly exciting."

"but!"

Stilwell abruptly stopped, pointing his finger at the economic report: "War is not just about shooting and cannon fire, it's about burning money!"

"When it was incorporated into the Republic of China and the rainforest was developed, did it rely on that 'Production and Construction Corps' model?"

"But where do they get their money and supplies?"

"Relying on the finances of that collapsed Nationalist government?"

"Are they still expecting us American taxpayers to foot the bill for their territorial ambitions?"

Dorn was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "General, do you mean you intend to use economic issues to..."

"Yes, I want to throw cold water on that war commander."

Stilwell picked up his military cap, put it on his head, and his eyes became firm and cold:
"Militarily, he was a giant."

"But economically, this country is a giant with feet of clay standing on only one leg."

"If they take too big a step, they will not only tear their pants, but also completely ruin themselves."

"My trip to North China this time is to make him see this reality."

Stilwell strode toward the door, his voice echoing back: "We can support them in fighting the Japanese, support them in recovering lost territory."

"But what about those expansion plans that exceed their national strength?"

"I must make him understand that American aid is for winning the war, not for filling the financial hole they've created through reckless expansion!"

"Let's go, Frank."

"Let's go see General Chu, who has a distinguished military record, and see if he can remain as composed as he is on the battlefield when faced with these tedious yet deadly numbers!"
-
Shanxi, Wutai Mountain.

Morning bells and evening drums, the lingering sound of Buddhist chants.

As the sacred site of Manjushri Bodhisattva, this place seems to be forever isolated from the flames of war and smoke below the mountain.

In a secluded Zen temple, Lao Xi, the "King of Shanxi" who once dominated the region and ruled Shanxi for more than 30 years, is now dressed in a gray lay Buddhist robe, sitting cross-legged on a futon, holding a string of sandalwood prayer beads in his hand, his eyes slightly closed, and chanting incantations.

"director."

The quiet of the Zen temple was broken by the sound of light footsteps.

Chu Xichun, the current commander of the Second War Zone, and Xie Ming, a trusted and beloved general of Yan Xishan, arrived together, their expressions revealing barely suppressed excitement.

Old Xi slowly opened his eyes, but a trace of his former shrewdness occasionally flashed in his cloudy gaze.

He stopped what he was doing and looked at the two of them: "Is there news from Yunfei's side again?"

"Exactly!"

Chu Xichun strode forward, took out a tightly sealed telegram from his pocket, and presented it with both hands: "Lord Han, this is a top-secret telegram from Yun Fei."

"Not only was the entire Qiongzhou Island liberated and the reconstruction plan successfully implemented recently, but his proposal regarding the annexation of Dongyu has also been approved in Shancheng. The command has discussed a very detailed plan and reserved relevant resources."

"Oh?"

Old Xi took the telegram, but didn't rush to read it. Instead, he first uttered a profound sigh: "The younger generation is truly formidable; the younger generation is indeed formidable!"

He put on his reading glasses and, using the sunlight streaming through the window, carefully read every word of the telegram.

When he saw the words "referendum to merge", "establishment of provinces and separate governance" and "direct access to the Indian Ocean", the hand that had held power for half his life couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"What a spirit!"

"Excellent!"

Yan Xishan slammed the telegram shut, his eyes gleaming, as if the Yan Xishan who had once been a master strategist in the Central Plains War had returned.

“I, Yan, have spent my whole life wandering around these remote mountains in Shanxi. All I want to do is protect this little bit of family business and make it a place where ‘in Shanxi, it’s Shanxi.’”

"But Yunfei, this young man..."

Old Xi pointed south, his tone a mixture of envy and satisfaction: "Expanding territory and erecting monuments on Yanran Mountain—this has been the dream of Chinese soldiers for generations. I never imagined that he would make it happen."

Xie Ming whispered from the side, "Director, with this great victory in Qiongzhou and the fourth phase of the counter-offensive, his reputation at home and abroad has reached its peak."

"but."

Xie Ming paused, then said with some concern, "A tall tree catches the wind. Although Chang Ruiyuan outwardly supports us, he must have some reservations. Moreover, although Yunfei is now the chief advisor of the military training department, he is still nominally subject to his military rank."

"Yes."

Chu Xichun chimed in, "Although Yunfei is now nominally a war marshal, legally he still needs to take a step further to truly maintain his composure, especially when dealing with Americans and Soviets."

"We Shanxi people can't always let him bear the brunt of everything on the front lines."

Old Xi fell silent. He stood up from the meditation cushion and pushed open the wooden door of the meditation room.

Outside the gate, the green mountains remain, shrouded in mist.

"I'm getting old."

With his back to the two men, Lao Xi's voice sounded somewhat desolate, yet it also conveyed a sense of determination: "Occupying this rank is just for show."

"Yunfei is a loyal and devoted child to me."

"No matter how busy he was, he never forgot about me, this old man. He would always send me greetings during holidays, and he never embarrassed me in his official duties in Shanxi."

“If he treats me with respect, I, as his elder, must repay him tenfold.”

Old Xi suddenly turned around, looked at Chu Xichun and Xie Ming, and smiled knowingly: "If you're going to help someone, you have to help them all the way to the west!"

"I made a decision!"

Old Xi waved his hand and said, "Xi Chun, go and draft the telegram right now!"

"Send a telegram to Chang Ruiyuan!"

"Take me, Lao Xi, for example. I am old and frail, and my old illness has relapsed. I am no longer able to get involved in military and national affairs, so I wish to retire completely."

"From this day forward, I will only eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist prayers on Mount Wutai, praying for the country's well-being, and will no longer concern myself with worldly affairs!"

"director."

Chu Xichun and Xie Ming were shocked. Although they had guessed that Lao Xi would take some action, they did not expect him to be so ruthless and thorough!

The rank of First-Class General was a lifelong honor in the National Revolutionary Army, and the number of recipients was fixed.

Although he had previously resigned from his position as Commander-in-Chief of the Second War Zone, he remained a member of the Military Commission.

Now that he has retired, everything will be over, which means his complete farewell to the military and political arena.

"What are you"

"No need to persuade."

Old Xi waved his hand, his eyes gleaming with wisdom: "Don't you understand yet?"

“I won’t step down. There are fixed quotas for positions, so I’ll just keep occupying that spot.”

"If I retire, this position of 'General First Class' will be vacant!"

"Looking at the present, who else is qualified to sit in this position?"

"Who else has this military merit and deserves this position?"

“Once I back out, even if Chang Ruiyuan doesn’t want to give it to me, he’ll have to!”

"Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to silence public opinion! And he would be letting down the Americans who provided aid!"

Old Xi walked to the table, personally ground the ink, and wrote four large characters on the Xuan paper: "Passing on the torch."

"Yunfei, this Kunpeng, has grown strong wings. Not to mention Shanxi, even the whole of China cannot confine him."

"The last thing I, this old man, can do is make room for him so he can fly higher and farther!"

"Go!"

Old Xi tossed the brush aside, his expression becoming incredibly relaxed: "Tell Yunfei to go for it!"

"I want to watch him become the supreme commander, second only to the emperor!"

"Yes!" (End of this chapter)