The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 355 Commander Hu's Prestige (Bonus Chapter 2550 for the Emergence of the Color Master)

...There is a saying in the modern world that after the Battle of Zijin Mountain in the Battle of Nanjing, the National Revolutionary Army no longer had a Central Training Corps.

The actual situation is not like that.

Although the Central Training Corps was disbanded after that brutal battle, some surviving veterans still survived.

Their courage in battle remains, and their spirit of defending their homeland remains.

I was very fortunate to have several veterans from the Central Training Corps among the brothers who fought alongside me. Their performance was worthy of their background and honors...

...Excerpt from Hu Biao's diary collection "Hu Shuo"...

Just as Hu Biao and other veterans reached a consensus and were preparing to do something...

Suddenly, a loud commotion came from not far behind.

They turned their heads and saw five or six old-fashioned trucks, none of which they recognized, driving up under the escort of more than thirty soldiers.

Because at this moment, the narrow dirt road was already crowded with a large number of fleeing soldiers and civilians.

In order to drive faster, the driver of the lead truck kept honking his horn.

A little ahead of the vehicle, there was a lieutenant officer from the Guangxi Army, leading about a dozen soldiers, who were constantly forcibly driving the crowd on the road to make way.

The lieutenant was wearing an M35 helmet, a symbol of the elite Central Army, but he was ruthless in his attack.

Every now and then, he would swing the butt of a submachine gun in his hand and smash it at the people blocking his way.

For a time, the sounds of old people cursing, women crying, and children crying filled the air, making the dirt road even more crowded and chaotic.

Before long, the lead car forced its way forward and was about to drive up in front of Hu Biao and his men; before the lieutenant could lead his men to drive them away, Si Puji pulled out his pistol and fired two shots into the air.

Amidst the loud gunshots, the driver of the lead truck, spurred on by the sudden sound, instinctively slammed on the brakes.

Then the following trucks also stopped.

Before the lead truck had come to a complete stop, Hu Biao had already rushed forward, pushed aside a soldier clearing the way, and jumped up.
After stepping on the bumper for leverage, he stepped onto the hood and quickly made his way to the top of the driver's seat.

During this process, the lieutenant and his soldiers instinctively tried to shoot Hu Biao, but Annie, Mina, Black Star and others had already drawn their pistols.

Or perhaps they picked up Mauser 98K rifles and confronted these people.

This sudden turn of events silenced the crying and cursing crowd, leaving the atmosphere at the scene deathly still.

Under these circumstances, Hu Biao ripped open his collar and, in his broken Guiliu dialect, began to curse at the lieutenant:
"Run! The Japanese have already reached your stronghold in Guangxi Province. How dare you soldiers run away?"
Even your Guangxi Army doesn't think about defending your own base anymore, so how can you expect others to risk their lives for you? What famous Guangxi Wolf Soldiers? Bah!

Such hurtful words were met with strong reactions, not to mention the lieutenant and the Guangxi soldiers around him.

The other defeated Guangxi soldiers in the crowd, one by one, had expressions of anger and shame on their faces, which were quite a sight to behold.

On the contrary, the common people felt that Hu Biao had spoken their minds, and they were quite united in their hatred of the enemy.

The next second, Hu Biao, that dog-faced guy, turned to them and started cursing them with incredibly foul language:

"Everyone says that the people of your province are tough and fierce, and that every man in your province is a man of courage and integrity."

Most of them had received some military training, and as soon as they picked up a gun, they were the best recruits.

But the way you all ran away without thinking about anything else made me feel ashamed.

These grown men are even less virtuous than women from the north; at least they knew to cut themselves to preserve their honor before being violated by the Japanese devils.

Good heavens! Hu Biao is completely indiscriminate in his insults, cursing everyone he sees.

Amidst such hurtful insults, one of the men, mingling in the crowd, threw down his Tony helmet and loudly retorted, seemingly in a fit of rage:

"You're talking nonsense! We also want to fight the Japanese, we also want to fight them to the death, but our officers have all run away, and the troops have scattered. What can we do but run away?"

Immediately afterwards, a man dressed in civilian clothes also shouted out in Cantonese:
"May your whole family die!"

The Japanese have planes and artillery, but we ordinary people don't even have guns. How are we supposed to fight? Every year we pay Bai and Li, two officers, so much grain to support their troops. Do you think we have it easy?"

With the two people mentioned above leading the way, the air was filled with angry, resentful, and aggrieved shouts and curses.

These were mostly soldiers and civilians who had fled from Nanning, abandoning their families and homes, and it seemed they wanted to vent all their negative emotions here.

Seeing the many soldiers and civilians present, their eyes filled with such hatred, the novice Zhang Laosan couldn't help but secretly groan inwardly.

I wonder if Hu Biao is courting death?

It doesn't matter if he's courting death, the key is not to drag him, the cook, down with him.

Just as the emotions of the soldiers and civilians present were becoming increasingly intense, Hu Biao fired another shot into the air; after the gunshot, the scene fell silent again. He gave the crowd a deep look before continuing:
"You think I'm cursing you, but I'm cursing myself."

Actually, I am also a member of the Guangxi Army. My name is Hu Biao, and I am currently the lieutenant colonel commander of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

But I will never forget my glorious identity on the battlefield of Songhu, at the Dunwu Temple position: the squad leader of the cooking squad directly under the regimental headquarters of the 1020th Regiment of the Guangxi Army.

We have not forgotten those wolf-like soldiers of the Guangxi Army in the 1020th Regiment; not one of them was a coward on the battlefield.

I will never forget the scene of 60,000 Guangxi soldiers charging with bayonets, with not a single one retreating.

How did this battle turn out like this? How did Nanning City fall? I don't want to deal with these messy things anymore, and I'm too lazy to care. Now I just want to ask you one question.

I plan to establish a position at Gaofeng Pass to block the pursuing Japanese troops and prevent them from occupying the entire Guangxi province.

So, is there anyone willing to work with me? If so, raise your hand immediately. I can't guarantee you wealth and glory, but I can guarantee that I, Hu Biao, will stay here and won't abandon you.

As soon as Hu Biao finished speaking, a young man dressed as a student shouted excitedly:

"Commander Hu, it really is Commander Hu. I was wondering why he looked so familiar. It turns out I've seen his picture in many newspapers before."

With this statement confirming Hu Biao's identity, the situation changed completely.

Despite the fact that Hu Biao and the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment had a great reputation throughout the country thanks to a series of brilliant victories.

But if we're talking about the places with the greatest reputation and the best public support, then it's definitely northern Jiangsu, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hunan, and Shanxi.

Northern Jiangsu is so named because Hu Biao originally came from the Northern Jiangsu Supplementary Regiment, whose troops were also called the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment. The people of Northern Jiangsu were naturally very close to him.

Shanxi Province was where Hu Biao and his forces were based, and they even achieved a great victory in Pingding County.

Hunan Province is Hu Biao's hometown, so the people of Hunan are naturally proud of their son.

The reason for choosing Sichuan and Guangxi provinces is that although Hu Biao did not join the Sichuan Army and Guangxi Army for long, his achievements were genuine.

His experience as a holdout at Dunwu Temple also left many friendly units of the Sichuan and Guangxi armies indebted to him.

Therefore, the military and civilians in Sichuan and Guangxi provinces had long regarded Hu Biao as one of their own, and had a natural sense of closeness to him.

Soon after, one of the routed soldiers raised his arm high and shouted:
"Reporting to Commander Hu, my name is Huang Ernian, a private first class in the engineer battalion of the 131st Division of the Guangxi Army. I am willing to follow you here to fight the Japanese devils."

I'm not afraid of death, I'm just afraid of not having an officer to lead us in fighting the Japanese..."

The next second, a man dressed as an ordinary citizen next to him also raised his arm:
"Reporting to Commander Hu, I participated in the military training organized by Commander Bai. I know a little about shooting and bayonet fighting, and I'm willing to fight the Japanese with you..."

The actions of these two individuals ignited the fighting spirit of the Guangxi natives present.

In a short time, five or six hundred arms were raised high, including both military and civilian personnel; the sight of them left Zhang Laosan dumbfounded.

Only the Guangxi soldiers escorting the truck had not yet reacted, or rather, the expressions on their faces showed that they were already very tempted to stay and fight the Japanese.

However, the lieutenant held considerable prestige in their hearts, and they managed to suppress their impulse even though he hadn't spoken up.

The lieutenant's face was full of struggle, probably because he had some concerns.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally gritted his teeth and shouted, "Zhong Shidao, Private First Class of the Central Training Corps and Second Lieutenant Platoon Leader of the Guangxi Army, reporting to Commander Hu."

"The Central Training Corps was basically wiped out in the Battle of Yuhuatai in Nanjing. The remaining personnel were incorporated into the army after arriving in Wuhan. Has it been reorganized into a unit? How come there is still this saying now?"

Upon hearing this, Old Ma, as if remembering something, instinctively uttered a sentence.

Upon hearing this, the lieutenant's eyes reddened, filled with sorrow.

As a result, Hu Biao glared fiercely at Lao Ma and comforted Zhong Shidao, saying, "Brother! The Central Training Corps will always be here."

Because as long as one brother survives, this glorious unit will live on forever, and the people of the nation, and even future generations, will always remember it.

After glancing at the truck, he asked, "What's on the truck? Weapons and ammunition?"

After hearing the answer "no," Hu Biao and the others were filled with indescribable disappointment; they had been hoping to get some more weapons.

But Zhong Shidao's next answer made them overjoyed once again:

"Reporting to Commander Hu, inside are machines from the Guinan Arsenal, and a dozen or so experienced workers."

When we heard that the Japanese were about to enter Nanning, the officer first ordered the workers to quickly dismantle some machines and load them onto trucks; then he ordered our platoon of brothers to make sure that the machines and personnel were safely escorted to Guilin.

"We were a bit too rough with this mission..."

(End of this chapter)