Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 197 Secretly Complaining
Wuhan Headquarters

The Chairman was frowning as he looked at a huge military map in front of him.

At this moment, his command post was brightly lit, and the surrounding walls were covered with huge military maps, marked with jagged battle lines and dense military symbols in red and blue pencil.

At this moment, the Chairman was wearing a crisp yellow woolen military uniform, but his brows showed deep fatigue and undisguised anxiety.

He hadn't had a proper rest for many days. The battle situation in Wuhan was at its most critical moment. The Japanese offensive was coming wave after wave. In order to fight against the Japanese offensive, the elite troops of the National Army suffered heavy casualties, and the defense line was in imminent danger.

An officer from the adjutant's office respectfully handed a translated telegram to Chiang Kai-shek and whispered, "Chairman, this is an urgent telegram from Commander Yan of the Second War Zone, reporting that his troops achieved a great victory in the Yelang Valley area of ​​Shanxi, annihilating the main force of the Japanese 20th Division and capturing its division commander, Lieutenant General Ushijima Sanetsugu."

The Chairman took the telegram and initially only glanced at it, but when the words "captured alive Japanese division commander Ushijima Sanetsu" came into view, his pupils suddenly contracted.

"Bang!" The Chairman slammed the telegram on the table with a loud bang, startling the staff officers and generals around him into silence.

"Damn it... You are all incompetent, and Yan Xishan is shameless!"

His anger erupted instantly. He stood up abruptly, pointed at Chen Cheng, He Yingqin, and other senior KMT generals in charge of Wuhan's defense, and vehemently denounced them:
"Look! Let me see! Even in a poor and remote place like Shanxi, where there is a shortage of soldiers and food, Yan Xishan was able to win such a victory and capture the active-duty Japanese division commander alive!"
And you? You command the Party-State's most elite troops, armed with the best weaponry, yet right here in Wuhan, in this vital transportation hub connecting nine provinces, you're being driven back by the Japanese! You can't even muster a decent counterattack! Don't you feel ashamed? What use are you to the Party-State?!

He Yingqin, then Minister of Military Affairs, was singled out and severely reprimanded by the Chairman. His face turned pale and then red, and he lowered his head, not daring to utter a sound.

Chen Cheng, as the Chief of the General Staff, also had a solemn expression, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead. The other generals dared not even breathe loudly, and the atmosphere in the entire command room was extremely oppressive.

The chairman's chest heaved violently; he was clearly furious.

He vehemently criticized the incompetence of these trusted generals from the Whampoa Military Academy, partly because of the unfavorable situation in Wuhan, and partly because Yan Xishan's victory report came too "timely" and too "eye-catching"! It was practically a slap in the face to his Central Army!
After venting his anger on his generals, the Chairman turned his rage towards Yan Xishan. He picked up the telegram and sneered, "Hmph! That old fox Yan Xishan! He's won such a victory, and his tail is practically wagging in the air! He even sent an urgent telegram to the Central Committee to report the victory? I think he's trying to curry favor with the Central Committee, asking for money, grain, and territory, isn't he? Utterly shameless!"

In the Chairman's view, Yan Xishan's move, besides reporting a victory, had a deeper meaning: it was a demonstration of his power and indispensable position in Shanxi.

Especially given the Central Army's repeated defeats on the main battlefield, Yan Xishan's "gift" undoubtedly made Chiang Kai-shek feel ashamed and fueled his anger.

Seeing his boss so angry, Chen Cheng stepped forward and said loudly, "Chairman... our department has some different views on this matter."

"Oh... is there anything else?" The Chairman looked at him intently. Chen Cheng said coldly, "Chairman, you should know better. It's not that I look down on Yan Baichuan."

Back then, Seishiro Itagaki led only half a division and conquered half of Shanxi. More than 100,000 Jin-Sui troops fled in panic, eventually leaving the vast Shanxi province to the Japanese. He then led tens of thousands of his remaining troops to escape to Kenanpo.

To put it bluntly, Yan Baichuan should be laughing all the way to the bank if the Japanese didn't attack him. How did he have the audacity to launch a preemptive attack on the Japanese, and even severely damage the 20th Division and capture its commander? If there's nothing fishy going on, I'd gladly gouge my eyes out and let him trample them on!

"Huh...that's right..."

After Chen Cheng said that, the Chairman and those around him realized what was going on.

It's more believable that Emperor Hirohito would suddenly announce unconditional surrender than that Yan Xishan truly possessed such ability.
Finally, after examining the telegram again, everyone discovered a clue.

The Chairman couldn't help but curse, "That old Yan... it was clearly Su Yaoyang and the Shanxi militia who did the work, but he actually took all the credit for himself. He's utterly shameless!"

However, as he continued to berate, his voice lowered. As the commander of the Second War Zone, Yan Xishan nominally had Su Yaoyang and the Shanxi militia under his command. Yan Xishan took credit for himself, and strictly speaking, his actions could not be entirely wrong.

This is a bit awkward.

"Damn it!" the Chairman cursed under his breath. This was his way of swearing when he was angry, and it had become his catchphrase.

He knew that whatever Yan Xishan's purpose in sending this telegram, the victory itself was a huge boost to the morale of the entire nation in the War of Resistance. He couldn't openly belittle it; in fact, he had to commend it. But his inner displeasure and wariness of local power brokers were very real.

After a long while, the chairman seemed to have finally calmed down a bit.

He stopped, his gaze sweeping over the generals present. His voice remained stern, but now carried an undeniable air of command: "The Central Committee will commend the Second War Zone. But! We cannot continue to passively endure this on the Wuhan battlefield!"

He suddenly waved his hand and pointed to the strategic points of Wuhan on the map: "Cixiu...Jingzhi, you must unite as one, redeploy, and spare no effort to win a great victory in Wuhan!"
We must let the entire nation know that our Central Army was the mainstay of the War of Resistance! We are the truly capable troops that can fight tough battles and win victories! Do you understand?

"Yes, Chairman!" Chen Cheng, He Yingqin and others responded in unison, their voices loud on the surface, but inwardly they were secretly groaning.

(End of this chapter)