The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 549 Sworn Brothers (Bonus Chapter for the Wandering Reader)
"I have good news to share with everyone. Principal Bald has agreed to all the conditions and demands that Commander Hu made in the telegram."

It is estimated that the relevant requirements have already been sent to the commanders of the 9th War Zone and several surrounding war zones.

At two minutes to three in the morning, in the field hospital that had finally calmed down a bit, Annie said this to the group of transmigrators gathered there.

Strangely, the reactions of the crowd after hearing this good news were quite peculiar.

How so? First, there was joy, joy that in the time to come, they could finally carry out the operation according to the battle plan and teach the Japanese a lesson.

Secondly, I felt the pressure, an immense pressure like a mountain.

The battle plan was proposed by them, and the bald-headed principal adopted it. Soon, millions, or even more, of soldiers and civilians will act according to their plan.

If everything goes smoothly, that would be the best outcome.

But if they fail to achieve a resounding victory and instead suffer a crushing defeat, then every single one of them will be a traitor to the nation.

However, there's no turning back now; all they can do is try their best to make everything as good as possible.

With this in mind, Hu Biao set off carrying an entrenching tool.

Then, everyone except the medics and the wounded, under the illumination of numerous torches, looked out over the rectangular flat area in the direction of the Japanese soldiers, and on the hills on both sides.

They began wielding various tools and worked through the night to build defensive fortifications.

Because if their plan goes smoothly, the Japanese will launch a fierce attack on them in the next few days.

If defensive fortifications are not repaired in advance, there could be huge casualties.

While others were busy building fortifications, Annie and Mina led their men to raise two battle flags high on the battlefield.

Let them rustle in the night breeze, so they can be seen from a great distance.

One of them was the death-themed battle flag presented by County Magistrate Hou when the army from Xinning County was about to depart.

The fact that it is erected here represents the belief and determination of the Hunan Provincial Supplementary Regiment of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment to fight to the death and never retreat.

The other battle flag was a fake Japanese regimental flag, the one captured from the 10th Regiment during the final battle of the crossing at Taierzhuang.

They say it's fake because the real thing is still in the hands of Zhao Zheng and others in the Pingding County base area.

This regimental flag was merely a replica made some time ago by a few of the best tailors in Xinning County, based on blueprints provided by Hu Biao and others.

The reason for raising this counterfeit goods alliance flag now is quite simple:
One of the methods used was to lure the Japanese soldiers into abandoning their retreat and launching a frenzied attack.

While Hu Biao and the others began repairing the fortifications, the effects of Annie's online chat with the bald principal gradually took hold...

******
At 3:51 a.m., in the temporary command post of the 9th War Zone in Xiangtan County.

Even though it was only two hours until dawn, the place was still brightly lit.

Under the bright lights, a large number of people in the command post were still awake; they were all busy working at full speed, and the various noises could be heard far away, making it seem very chaotic.

Upon closer reflection, such a situation is quite normal.

The crucial city of C in the 9th War Zone is about to fall. A large number of its troops have either been defeated, suffered heavy casualties, or are currently in a state of chaos and exhaustion.

With things so urgent, how could these people possibly sleep?

Just over ten minutes later, all the noisy scenes seemed to have been paused, and everything suddenly calmed down.

The reason for this change is that, just a few minutes earlier, several lengthy telegrams urgently sent from the office of Principal Shuangqing had been successfully translated.

At this point, everyone, including Xue Boling, realized that their telegrams communicating with various units in the war zone had long been intercepted and deciphered by the Japanese.

This means that the 9th War Zone had been tracking the movements, missions, and tactics of its various units in the preceding period.

To Anami Yuichi and the Japanese 11th Army, they were completely transparent.

In addition, Hu Biao and Commander Hu arrived. This was the first time that a man from Hunan Province had appeared on the Hunan battlefield, which immediately brought everyone a huge surprise.

He actually spent half a month secretly pulling together a supplementary regiment in his hometown of Xinning.

And this group, which looked like a motley crew, arrived at the battlefield silently after marching hundreds of miles.

At a crucial moment, they launched a sudden attack, annihilating the Japanese 68th Regiment that was attempting to infiltrate the rear of the 74th Army, thus relieving the 74th Army of a major crisis. Furthermore, they presented the bald-headed principal with what they considered a crazy battle plan, which the principal surprisingly adopted entirely.

The telegram that was just sent to them contained many instructions that they must cooperate unconditionally.

Most people in the command post still have a very good impression of the legendary Commander Hu; they are also very grateful for his righteous help this time.

Even after a little thought, they were quite tempted by his crazy battle plan.

However, they dared not show any of these thoughts at the moment, and did not even dare to speak.

All of this stemmed from the fact that after reading the telegram, Commander Xue Boling of the 9th War Zone stood silently in front of a large map, his face expressionless.

The better Hu Biao performed, the more it seemed to highlight how terrible Commander Xue's previous command had been.

More importantly, after Hu Biao's demands for the bald-headed principal were all granted, it meant that Commander Xue's power would be significantly reduced.

What man doesn't crave power?

Therefore, they believed that Commander Xue must be filled with immense anger at this moment, and only a fool would praise Hu Biao and agree with his battle plan.

Damn it! Aren't you afraid that Commander Xue will dislike you and make things difficult for you in the future?

This situation changed after another two or three minutes.

A staff officer named Jia Yong, with a pointed face and monkey-like features, suddenly had a good idea for currying favor with his superior, Commander Xue, and immediately put it into action.

He walked up to Commander Xue and whispered his suggestion:

"Commander Xue, although Hu Yitong has a great reputation, he is just a lieutenant colonel commander of a Class B regiment. What right does he have to recruit soldiers in the 9th War Zone without informing us?"

Even if we recruit soldiers, a few hundred would be fine.

They even dared to recruit six thousand people at once, and even gave them the title of a replenishment regiment.

There was a Class B regiment that had a supplementary regiment under its command, and this supplementary regiment was almost as large as a division in other places.

Are we even going to disregard the rules? Are the regulations of the Nationalist government still in effect?

Therefore, Commander Xue should immediately send a telegram to give Hu Biao a good scolding and teach him a lesson in manners.

That's right! Jia Yong was completely planning to take advantage of Hu Biao's misfortune to curry favor with Xue Boling and achieve his goal of getting promoted and making a fortune.

Unexpectedly, this attempt at flattery backfired spectacularly; Commander Xue finally showed a change of heart, but it was a look of utter fury.

He slapped Jia Yong across the face, knocking him to the ground, and then kicked him angrily.

Then he finally spoke up and cursed, "Are you blind? How could I, Xue Boling, be the petty person you think I am?"
Besides! Although Hu Yitong's military rank is not high, he is still the head of the Jin-Northwest Guerrilla Area. In reality, his position is only half a rank lower than mine, the commander of the war zone.

He's your superior officer, how dare you speak ill of him behind his back? If I hear him say those things again, be careful, you'll be court-martialed.

After berating Jia Yong, he started yelling at the others:
"What are you all standing there for? Quickly convey the instructions in the telegram from the bald principal to all the troops and get them to take action immediately."

"Right! Activate the backup codebook immediately."

Xue Boling's reaction left everyone in the command post dumbfounded.

What they didn't know was that this scene was actually quite reasonable.

Because the bald principal had sent a series of long telegrams over the past few hours, and they were receiving and decoding them simultaneously.

The last telegram has only been seen by Xue Boling so far.

The above text states that Hu Biao admitted that the tactics used in this operation largely drew on Xue Boling's valuable experience from the first Battle of C-Sha, which led to the development of the "Heavenly Furnace Strategy".

If this great battle ultimately yields some good results, Commander Xue will be the greatest credit.

As a result, Xue Boling, who initially found the relevant battle plan extremely familiar and welcoming, and whose thoughts coincided with many of his own, developed an unprecedentedly positive feeling towards Hu Biao.

He felt that Hu Biao was simply his confidant.

In other words, Hu Biao is currently over a hundred kilometers away and doesn't have time to come anytime soon, otherwise Commander Xue would have cut off a chicken's head and burned yellow paper with Hu Biao, and become sworn brothers on the spot...

(End of this chapter)