Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 175 Honoring Merits
After a fit of rage, Terauchi Hisaichi calmed down and sat down in his seat: "Send another telegram to Kenji Doihara, ordering him to immediately command the division to break out to the east and seize Shangqiu!"

Okabe Naozaburo put his heels together, leaned forward and bowed slightly: "Hai!"

After saying that, he turned around and walked out.

Terauchi Shouichi stretched out his hand to stop him: "Wait a minute!"

"What is the armament status of the 14th Division? Does the field artillery regiment still have the ability to maneuver in an organized manner?"

Okabe Naosaburo was stunned: "General, which artillery regiment are you talking about?"

Terauchi Hisaichi frowned.

Which artillery regiment?

Doesn't a division only have one field artillery regiment?
Naosaburo Okabe realized the problem and quickly added, "Lord Katsuki has great affection for the 14th Division. According to gossip, in the Doihara Division, there are three field artillery regiments temporarily allocated by the 1st Army alone, and there are also two tank regiments. Its mechanization level even exceeds that of the Isogai Division."

Upon hearing this, Terauchi Shouichi's eyes widened, and then he flew into a rage: "Baka!"

“Why didn’t I know this news!”

"Why didn't you report it after receiving the news?"

Okabe Naosaburo's body trembled violently, and he hurriedly explained: "Sir, please calm down."

"These are just rumors. The General Staff has been discussing this matter privately recently. I have already sent agents to the 14th Division to investigate this matter."

"Katsuki Seiji." Terauchi Shou was furious, "From now on, any situation, even if it's just a rumor, must be reported!"

Seeing that his immediate superior did not vent his anger on him, Okabe Naosaburo quickly agreed: "Yai! Please rest assured, sir!"

After saying that, he immediately turned around and left the command post, staying away from this place of trouble.

Terauchi Hisaichi sat alone in the room and drove away the staff officer who was drawing a map.

"The First Army!"

Terauchi Hisaichi clenched his fists and slammed them on the table.

He never expected that Katsuki Seiji would play such a trick on him.

He really is worthy of being called a master at sowing discord during the "July 7 Incident"!

The 14th Division was transferred in his name and was not affiliated with the 1st Army. Like the Itagaki Division at the beginning, it was directly under the jurisdiction of the North China Front Army.

But what he didn't expect was that Katsuki Seiji and Doihara Kenji secretly colluded and left him, the commander-in-chief of the front, aside.

It's so shameful!
If this gets out, how can I convince the people in the future? What will the Army General Staff think?

Terauchi Juichi made up his mind - he must get rid of Kozuki Seiji!

"two months"

Terauchi Hisaichi stroked the tassel on the general's sword and silently calculated the date in his mind.

The headquarters has already leaked the news that since he had been in Europe in his early years and was particularly familiar with the environment in Prussia, he would be temporarily transferred from the North China Front Army and go to Europe to negotiate an alliance with Prussia and Italy.

The departure date is set for July.

This was a tough job. The Imperial Army was fighting poorly and suffered three consecutive defeats on the battlefield of Xuzhou.

Prussia has begun to reassess Japan's military strength.

At the same time, it is wavering on Sino-Japanese relations.

If you want to conclude an alliance, you will inevitably have to spend some time talking.

"Humph!" Terauchi Shouichi sneered, "Those greedy Prussians, once I put my knife on the city wall of Chongqing, they will beg to sign an alliance with the Empire!"

------

At the same time, in the southeast corner of Dangshan camp.

The engineers wielded shovels to temporarily clear a piece of space and built a temporary ceremonial platform on it.

The stage was covered with a red carpet, with a microphone placed in the center and several loudspeakers on both sides.

Zhao Fangyuan was busy at the side: "Where is the banner?"

"Bring the banner over here!"

Several soldiers moved swiftly and dragged the huge rolled-up banner to the front of the stage.

Zhao Fangyuan kept urging: "Are the wooden stakes propped up? Pull up the lines and hang up the banners!"

Five squads of soldiers were busy in front of the stage, and in less than half an hour, everything was ready.

A huge banner was unfurled with white characters on a red background: "Honor Award Ceremony of the Federal Garrison Army and Graduation Ceremony of the First Class of Graduates of Changzhi Military Academy"

Sergei came over and said, "Old Zhao, why don't you change into your dress?"

Zhao Fangyuan reacted and looked down at his watch - 11:24.

It's too late!
His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately took off his belt and threw it to the guard beside him: "Is the military band here?"

Guard: "Already here, gathering outside the venue."

Zhao Fangyuan hurriedly said, "Old Xie, please keep an eye on him for me. I'm going to go change my clothes first!"

After saying that, he threw the file in his hand to Sergei, and without waiting for the other party's response, he hurriedly ran towards the tent.

"Hey," Sergei was stunned and looked at the guard beside him, "How far have the venues been arranged?"

More than half an hour later, it was exactly twelve o'clock noon.

The temporary meeting place was filled with people. The first few rows of officers were lined up in an orderly manner, standing tall, braving the scorching sun, their eyes always looking straight ahead.

These are the officers who are about to receive the award.

The first row of officers is full of generals, and those who can stand here are the commanders and deputy commanders of each column.

Zhang Hu was wearing a tuxedo, with his head held high and a hint of pride on his rough face.

Chu Yunfei looked well-dressed, wearing his dress straight and straight, with a serious expression. At first glance, he was an advanced general who had received higher education.

A few rows further back stood the new and core officers of each column.

There was a bandage on E Yi's sleeves. Yuan Yelin glanced around quietly and saw that Hua Dechang's boots were still covered in mud.

Chi Zhanpeng was the most eye-catching. This young man had tied the sheath of his saber outside his tuxedo.

On the left side of the queue of officers being awarded medals, there is a larger square formation. These are the first batch of graduates from the Changzhi Military Academy. The prospective officers in the queue have young faces and are looking around curiously.

Eight military flags were evenly distributed and placed on both sides of the ceremonial platform.

Swaying in the wind, rustling.

"The commander-in-chief has arrived!"

A loud shout was heard, and the officers who had deserted their posts in the meeting room immediately gathered their minds and adjusted their posture.

"play music!"

Zhao Fangyuan stood under the ceremonial platform and waved to the military band.

The conductor understood what he meant, looked down at the music score, and immediately waved his baton.

The majestic bugle call sounded, and the chorus began to sing the Army Song. "The wind and clouds rise, the mountains and rivers move!"

"The Whampoa Military Academy established an army with great momentum, and the revolutionary warriors were determined to be loyal!"

Amid the sound of music, Wang Feng, dressed in a tuxedo, slowly walked into the venue and stepped onto the ceremonial stage.

Wang Feng stood in the center of the podium, the tassel on his chest waving gently, the Blue Sky and White Sun Medal reflecting the sunlight, and his eyes swept over the officers below.

When the eyes fell on the formation of graduates.

The scene of his graduation from the Whampoa Military Academy a few years ago emerged in his mind.

Everything is flourishing and full of vitality!
The reason for holding the medal awarding ceremony temporarily was mainly to eliminate the impact of the "demotion" of officers during the Xuzhou reorganization, and secondly to boost military morale and unite for the war of resistance.

The military music grew louder in their ears, and everyone began to sing along unconsciously.

"The flags are shining, the drums are beating, the army is mighty, loyal and disciplined!"

"We are loyal to each other, united and strong, we will annihilate the enemy and sing a triumphant song!"

A breeze blew by, and the smell of blood mixed with the scent of yellow earth rushed into the nose, but the singing of the officers became louder and louder.

"Kai sings!"

The military music slowly stopped and Wang Feng clapped his hands softly. He was very satisfied with the military band borrowed from the Fifth War Zone.

Professional enough!
Wang Feng saluted and pointed to the loudspeaker: "Brothers!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the officers below saluted and shouted in unison: "Hello, sir!"

The majestic shout reached the sky.

Wang Feng cleared his throat and said, "Today, you have gathered here to honor the meritorious soldiers who fought bravely and to witness the birth of the first batch of young officers of Changzhi Military Academy!"

As he spoke, his eyes swept towards the audience.

"To be honest, it has been more than ten months since the outbreak of the full-scale war of resistance, and it has not been easy for us to fight during this period of time."

"The Japanese invaders boasted that they would destroy China within three months. Within a month of the incident, Beijing and Tianjin fell, Beijing and Shanghai were in danger, and the collapse of the empire was inevitable!"

"But this is not the case. The three-month battle of Songhu completely shattered the Japanese invaders' fantasy. The three great victories in Huaibei, Linyi and Taierzhuang completely dragged Japan into the quagmire of war!"

"Although the Japanese pirates are fierce, they have already shown signs of defeat!"

"We will start with the great victory in Xuzhou and make the Japanese invaders pay the price of mountains of corpses and seas of blood for every step forward!"

Wang Feng raised his arms and shouted loudly on the stage, and the officers below shouted in unison:
"Let the Japanese invaders pay the price of mountains of corpses and seas of blood for every step they take!"

After the speech, Zhao Fangyuan walked up to the stage with a file book and said, "Next, we will start awarding medals. First, we will award the generals the Medal of Honor."

"Zhang Hu, commander-in-chief of the 1st Mountain "Red Flag" Column, and Wu Guangsheng, deputy commander-in-chief, have performed outstandingly in the Xinkou Campaign, the Niangziguan Campaign, the Huaibei Campaign, and the Linyi Campaign. They are hereby awarded the Iron Wall Medal!"

After reading a long string of text, Zhang Hu and Wu Guangsheng walked onto the stage.

The guard brought a red cloth tray with several shiny medals on it.

The Iron Wall Medal was designed temporarily by Wang Feng. Its size and shape were similar to those of the Blue Sky and White Sun Medal, but the original pattern on the medal was replaced with the shape of the Great Wall.

The rest remains basically unchanged.

Wang Feng picked up the medal and walked up to Zhang Hu.

Seeing his superior walking towards him, Zhang Hu puffed out his chest, and the word "excited" was almost written on his face.

After Wang Feng personally pinned the medal on him, he took a step back and saluted.

Zhang Hu reacted immediately and hurriedly returned the greeting:
"Thank you for your training, sir!"

Wang Feng nodded slightly.

After awarding the two men medals, Zhao Fangyuan continued to read the manuscript.

A large number of [Iron Wall Medals] were awarded this time, and the commander and deputy commander of each column all received one.

Although the 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 8th columns were not present, Wang Feng had reserved it for them. After the war was temporarily over, he planned to build a small auditorium and go through the process again.

After the generals finished awarding medals, Zhao Fangyuan continued, "Next, we will award the officers' medals of honor!"

"Let E Yi go--" Before Zhao Fangyuan finished his words, E Yi, with bandages wrapped around his cuffs, stepped out with his head held high.

"Fourth Vertical Chi Zhanpeng!"

"."

The Officer Medal is similar to the Iron Wall Medal, with the Blue Sky and White Sun Medal as the base image, but the center pattern is replaced with a white five-pointed star.

The meaning is also very obvious - a rising star in the military!

The awarding of medals to key officers has been completed, and the next step is to award medals to soldiers.

The pattern above was replaced with a rifle.

"Chen Desheng!" Zhao Fangyuan read out a name. Just as he finished his words, a soldier came out on crutches and, with the help of several guards, walked tremblingly onto the stage.

Now he is already a platoon leader.

The official appointment has been issued, and I will return to the army after my injuries are healed.

Wang Feng weighed the medal in his hand and put it on Chen Desheng's chest.

"Thank you, sir!" Chen Desheng saluted, his eyes slightly moist, and he tried hard not to let the tears fall.

In the past, he never dared to dream that one day, a peasant like him would stand on the stage and receive an award from the commander-in-chief.

Wang Feng patted him on the shoulder and said, "I know all about your battle process. You fought well! You didn't bring shame to our Shanxi veterans!"

When talking about Shanxi, Chen Desheng's eyes became even redder.

"Four months ago, you led more than 10,000 of our brothers out of Jin. Now, there are not many of our old friends left."

He spoke in a very low voice and only Wang Feng could hear it clearly.

"If we don't fight this battle, we will have to wait until the next generation fights it!" Wang Feng sighed, "Each generation has its own mission. What we have to do is to drive out the Japanese invaders and defend our sovereignty, even if our entire generation dies!"

Chen Desheng tried his best to straighten his back: "Yes!"

"Drive out the Japanese invaders! At all costs!"

After the awarding ceremony, the military academy graduation ceremony followed.

Just now, when Wang Feng personally awarded the medals, the graduates below stared with their eyes wide open.

A soldier's long-cherished wish is to fight on the battlefield, defend his country, and make great achievements.

It is a great honor to have the principal award me an honor, even if I am going to die after leaving the stage!
The ceremony process is still going on.

As the principal, Wang Feng read a speech, the general content of which was nothing more than inspiring the spirit of resistance against Japan and emphasizing unity.

The subsequent process is very brief.

Outstanding graduates are commended, military rank armbands are issued, guns are awarded, and the graduates' assignments are announced.

(End of this chapter)