Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 196 Reclaiming My Homeland and Former Glory

1938 5 Month 28 Day.

Lanfeng Camp.

A rally is underway.

The once empty grassland was now very crowded. All officers of the platoon and above from the First Mountain Column were present and stood in neat rows according to their battalions.

Wang Feng, dressed in casual clothes, strode onto the makeshift platform.

"salute!"

Zhang Hu stood in front of the crowd and roared.

The soldiers behind him immediately raised their right arms, the sound of their clothes rustling filled the air, and everyone shouted in unison:
"Hello, sir!"

Wang Feng looked down and raised his hand in a slight gesture of greeting.

"brothers!"

"As everyone knows, we have once again won the Battle of Lanfeng, severely damaging the Japanese 14th Division and capturing its commander, Kenji Doihara, and its chief of staff, Tadayoshi Sano!"

"Our victory today is not due to my efforts alone, but entirely to the concerted efforts and desperate fighting of all my brothers!"

"On behalf of the 400 million people of the whole country, I thank you, brothers!"

Wang Feng saluted again, glanced around below, and then waved his hand: "Bring it up!"

Zhao Fangyuan immediately led a team of guards to carry up several large wooden crates.

Wang Feng opened one of them himself.

It was filled with cash and dollars.

The soldiers, who had been solemn and dignified, couldn't help but shed tears upon seeing this scene.

These days, there are very few generals who value these common folks so much.

Some of these soldiers had participated in the Central Plains War in their early years, and some officers were even recruited from other units during the Battle of Xinkou last year.

Other soldiers had also heard about it from what they saw and heard.

After other units achieved victory, their senior officers were honored and recorded in history as famous national heroes, while their middle-ranking officers were promoted one after another and held high positions of power.

Only the lower-ranking soldiers remained silent, hiding in corners wiping away tears and gently tending to their wounds.

The soldiers who died in the line of duty may not even receive their compensation.
An elderly mother sitting alone at home may never know whether her son is alive or dead.

Wang Feng pointed to the wooden box on the platform: "This money is all for the brothers as a form of consolation money."

"Thank you for your hard work these past few days!"

The soldiers shouted at the top of their lungs, their voices soaring to the heavens: "Thank you, sir!"

Wang Feng continued, "Your superiors have probably already told you what we're going to do today."

"We withdrew from the Battle of Xinkou."

"We also withdrew from the Battle of Niangziguan."

"We achieved remarkable victories in the battles of Huaibei, Linyi, and Taierzhuang, but in the end, we still had to withdraw."

“I know the brothers are all holding back their anger.”

"Why?"

"We won a great victory. No matter what, it should be the Japanese who are retreating. Why should we run away like rats in the street?"

"What man could stand this?"

The soldiers' emotions were ignited: "We can't take it!"

"Damn those little Japanese devils!"

"Never retreat! Fight to the death!"

Wang Feng nodded: "Okay!"

"Then today, I will lead you north to reclaim the land that was once occupied by the Japanese!"

"Let those little devils see that we Chinese also have guts, and we are not cowards who run away after winning a battle!"

"Reclaim my homeland and its former glory!"

The soldiers raised their rifles, and the atmosphere was completely stirred up:

"Reclaim my homeland and its former glory!"

"Drive the Japanese devils out of China!"

"Recapture Heze! Recapture Puyang!"

Wang Feng glanced at Zhao Fangyuan: "Bring the prisoners up."

Zhao Fangyuan nodded and quickly walked off the stage.

In no time, two internal affairs soldiers, rifles slung across their shoulders, together pressed down on a prisoner who was barely recognizable as human.

It was Tadayo Sano, the chief of staff of the 14th Division.

The clothes he was wearing were torn to shreds, and dried bloodstains were congealed on them. If you looked closely, you could see maggots slowly wriggling in the wound on his chest.

He seemed to have guessed what he was about to face, twisting his body and struggling desperately to break free from the grasp of the two MI6 soldiers.

"be honest!"

The internal affairs soldiers had fiery tempers, and their attitude towards Japanese prisoners of war was extremely poor.

The Provincial Garrison Army was not the National Revolutionary Army, nor was it any other military force, so there was no such thing as treating prisoners of war well.

Regardless of rank, anyone captured had to go to the Ministry of the Interior.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs was established by Sergei himself. Its investigative and espionage capabilities may be somewhat weak, but its methods of torture and forced confessions are no less sophisticated than those of the Cheka.

Wang Feng pulled out the pistol from his waist.

The guards nearby reacted quickly, and together they pulled up a piece of red cloth and neatly laid it on the floor.

This is the red flag of the First Column.

"No! You can't kill me!"

Sano Tadayoshi couldn't put on the leg irons, and his only remaining leg kept wobbling.

Wang Feng smiled.

The once arrogant and invincible Japanese samurai are now in such a sorry state.

It's really ridiculous.

Those who can bravely face death are ultimately a minority.

"Please, please don't kill me!"

Sano Tadayoshi appeared deranged, and when he was brought before the red flag, his speech was already somewhat incoherent.

Apart from Sergei, Wang Feng, and a few internal affairs soldiers, no one knew what Sano Tadashi had gone through during the days he was captured.

According to Sergei, this guy was a tough nut to crack at first.

The tiger bench and pepper spray were no match for him; he also withstood the hot iron and electric shock bench.

They just wouldn't back down no matter what.

Later, Sergei resorted to a "traditional method" he had heard about in the Soviet Union.

After several days of continuous treatment.

That's how Sano Tadayoshi ended up looking like this.

Wang Feng pulled the safety, raised the muzzle of his gun, and aimed it at the back of Sano Tadashi's head.

The other party was still desperately wailing and struggling.

The soldiers near the front row below stared wide-eyed, not daring to blink, for fear of missing this scene.

"boom!"

Without hesitation, Wang Feng pulled the trigger, and with a gunshot, the bullet pierced through the back of Sano Tadashi's head.

Bright red blood gushed out and splattered onto the red flag.

"it is good!"

"Good fight!"

The soldiers below couldn't help but clap and shout, wishing they could rush onto the stage immediately and personally tear the remaining Japanese corpse into pieces.

His comrades, brothers, and even his closest relatives died at the hands of this old Japanese devil.

The guards immediately picked up the red flag and quickly planted it on the pole.

A red flag was erected on the stage.

A gentle breeze blew by, and the red flag fluttered in the wind. After being stained with the blood of Japanese generals, the color of the red flag became even more alluring.

Wang Feng lowered the muzzle of his gun, aimed at Sano Tadashi's back, and emptied the magazine in one go.

He didn't know why he was doing it.

I seem to have heard a saying in my past life that if you drive a few nails into the back of a dead person, their soul will be locked firmly in the body and never find peace.

He didn't know how to nail it, and he didn't have any nails on hand.

So we simply used bullets instead.

After doing all this, Wang Feng put the pistol back into his waistband.

"This is the first, but it certainly won't be the last!"

"In the past, we used the blood of our own people to stain this red flag, but now, from now on! We will use the blood of our enemies to commemorate the brothers who shed their blood on this red flag!" Upon hearing this, Zhang Hu was stunned and stood there.

He recalled the scene of the Battle of Kashiwagi.

When he discovered the red flag, his battalion commander was lying on it, blood seeping from his skull, staining the flag red. When he went to check on it, the commander was already dead.

Wang Feng removed his military cap and shouted loudly, "If we want our race to survive, we must fight to the very end!"

"Drive out the Japanese invaders and restore China!"

The soldiers below looked excited, raising their rifles high:
"If we want our race to survive, the only way is to fight to the very end!"

"Expel the Japanese invaders! Reclaim China!"

"Kill all the Japanese devils! Reclaim our China!"

Wang Feng put on his hat. Zhao Fangyuan had already prepared the speech for today, and all he had to do was read it out on stage.

But when he stepped onto the stage and faced so many soldiers...

He didn't want to read the prepared draft.

He wanted to say something from his heart.

Wang Feng knew that most of these soldiers were from Shanxi, while a small number were from Northeast and Northwest China who had been brought in after the reorganization of the army.

Anhui has been playing away games in Henan for so long.

The soldiers couldn't help but feel resentful; if they were in their shoes, they probably would have felt the same way.

Shanxi was mostly occupied by the Japanese army. Instead of defending their hometown, they went to fight in other places, which was indeed somewhat biased.

But as a time traveler, from God's perspective and from the perspective of the interests of the entire nation.

Whether it was the Battle of Xuzhou or the Battle of Lanfeng.

Its importance far surpasses that of the others.

But the soldiers wouldn't think that way.

This is one of the reasons why he was unwilling to follow the Yudong Corps to Dangshan to block the Japanese army. If the fighting continued like this, the morale of the army would probably collapse.

It would only increase casualties and have no strategic significance whatsoever.

"Zhang Hu!"

"To!"

Wang Feng glanced at the time—14:23.

"Let's set off. The vanguard will arrive in Heze at 5:00 AM tomorrow to join the Fourth and Sixth Columns."

"You are the commander-in-chief at the front. Once the forces have converged, launch the attack immediately!"

Zhang Hu saluted: "Yes, sir!"

Wang Feng turned to Sergei and said, "You will lead the core members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and stay in Lanfeng for the time being. I will allocate another infantry battalion to you."

He was still worried about the Yellow River.

Chiang Kai-shek and Terauchi Hisaichi both had their eyes on this natural barrier. If the Yellow River were to breach its banks, the resulting casualties would likely be greater than any massacre.

Since we are in the midst of this torrent, we must do something.

To make up for some irreparable regrets.

Sergei nodded: "Don't worry, sir, I'll take care of things here!"

Wang Feng responded.

He then slowly walked off the stage.

He turned and disappeared from everyone's sight.

--------

Heze.

Yamamoto Battalion.

In the office of Li Bifan, the former commander of the 23rd Division, Yamamoto Ichiro gently stroked his mustache in front of the mirror.

"Reporting to Your Excellency!"

A messenger rushed in and shouted from outside the door.

Yamamoto Ichiro looked somewhat displeased.

Seeing the other person's anxiety, he figured it must be something important, so he suppressed his anger for the time being and said, "Come in!"

The messenger strode closer, heels together, and saluted: "Reporting, Your Excellency!"

"An urgent letter from Squadron Leader Takeshita!"

"What?" Yamamoto Ichiro scoffed, asking in confusion, "Why write a handwritten letter? Can't I just call if something's wrong?"

The messenger explained, "The telephone lines from inside the city to outside have been cut, and the engineers are working to repair them."

Yamamoto Ichiro flew into a rage and slammed his hand on the table: "Baka!"

"Who is it?"

"How dare you cut the phone line so blatantly!"

"We must find out!"

The messenger voiced his guess: "Lieutenant Colonel, it's very likely that he's a Chinese person from inside the city."

There were only two squadrons of soldiers in Heze City, and they didn't have the extra energy to dig trenches. The Chinese civilians they conscripted on the spot did not put in much effort, and even secretly carried out sabotage. Even though several people had been publicly executed, it still couldn't be stopped.

Left with no other option, they had to lay the telephone lines in the open in areas with low foot traffic.

Two squads of soldiers were assigned to patrol in shifts.

Enraged, Yamamoto Ichiro slammed his fist on the table repeatedly: "They dared to cut the phone line! These aren't ordinary citizens, they're a mob!"

"It must be removed!"

The messenger nodded: "Lieutenant Colonel, I suggest you take a look at that letter first."

Yamamoto Ichiro snapped out of his daze, picked it up, and glanced at it.

[Lieutenant Colonel Yamamoto, our unit discovered refugees while stationed outside the castle for training. What should we do?]

"Refugee?"

"well!"

Yamamoto Ichiro: "Go tell Takeshita to categorize the refugees by gender. Send the Chinese men to build fortifications, and send the Chinese women over first!"

The messenger bowed and said, "Hai!"

Yamamoto Ichiro smiled, a satisfied expression on his face.

His battalion belonged to the 14th Division. Normally, a battalion would have at least four infantry companies.

At this time, there were only two infantry companies in Heze City, with a force of about five or six hundred men.

As for the remaining two squadrons...

Naturally, the main force crossed the river.

Together with other selected troops, they formed a special detachment.

Yamamoto Ichiro stopped the soldier who had come to speak: "Wait a minute!"

"Go to the communications unit first and send a message to Lord Kiyoshi Kazuki, asking what the next step should be!"

He was somewhat anxious about this.

His battalion belonged to the 14th Division, a proper Class A field army. The reason they were guarding the city and doing the work of a Class B unit was because of the emergency.

The main force of the division has now suffered a disastrous defeat at Lanfeng.

According to the battle report released by the North China Area Army, their division commander Kenji Doihara, along with his chief of staff Tadayoshi Sano, heroically sacrificed their lives in battle against the Chinese forces.

The entire staff was also wiped out.

The several hundred men of Yamamoto's battalion suddenly became rootless duckweed, adrift and without anyone to command them.

To be honest, Yamamoto Ichiro is very satisfied with his current life.

Without the constraints of superiors, and not belonging to the 59th Infantry Regiment.

With no superiors above him and relying on guns, cannons, and bullets at his disposal, life in Heze City couldn't be more enjoyable.

Messenger: "Hai!"

Yamamoto Ichiro sat back down and took out a stack of photos.

The room is full of Chinese women.

Most of these photos were taken under duress, and most of the people in them were imprisoned together.

As for the remaining small portion...

After enduring immense suffering, its whereabouts are unknown.

"Wow! This girl is pretty!"

Yamamoto Ichiro revealed a lewd smile.

I don't know how many connections I had to pull to get transferred from the reserve team to the 14th Division as a battalion commander, which gave me the right to set foot on Chinese soil.

We can't let all our initial investment go to waste.

"That's it for tonight!"

(End of this chapter)