Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 243 Emergency Landing on a Rainy Night
March 9, 1940, Wuhan.

The wind was cold at the dock on the Yangtze River, making the Japanese Rising Sun Flag flutter.

Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura, commander of the 11th Army and known as a "wise general," is about to leave his long-established Central China headquarters and head to Beiping to assume a higher-ranking position as commander of the North China Area Army.

The farewell scene was solemn and somber. Rows of officers stood with their hands at their sides, no one spoke, only the cold wind and the sound of leather boots hitting the ground could be heard.

Okamura Neiji wore a crisp wool coat, his face expressionless. His sharp, hawk-like eyes swept over his subordinates who had come to see him off, and no one dared to meet his gaze.

He did not deliver any lengthy farewell speech; instead, before getting into his black car, he left a cold and piercing remark to his successors and his remaining staff.

"After I left, the first thing the 11th Army did was to launch a large-scale retaliatory operation."

After saying that, he looked away from everyone, bent down, and got into the car. The car door slammed shut, isolating him from the outside world.

The convoy started slowly, raising a cloud of dust, and soon disappeared at the end of the street.

The officers and soldiers who remained still stood in the cold wind.

Several days later, Nanjing, the headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Army.

Commander-in-Chief General Toshizo Nishio stared intently at a huge map of China, lost in thought. His thick fingers traced the map, finally landing heavily on Yichang, a strategically important location in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

“This is it…” he murmured to himself.

In his view, the 11th Army's passivity and predicament during last year's winter offensive ultimately stemmed from its failure to pose a real and fatal threat to the Chongqing government entrenched in the mountain city.

Their punches, though hard, always landed on cotton.

Yichang is the dagger held to Chongqing's throat. Taking Yichang would cut off Yangtze River shipping, threaten Chongqing's flank, and completely reverse the strategic situation.

Therefore, he made up his mind. In 1940, at the opportune moment, he amassed a large army and launched the Battle of Yichang!
March 20, Nanjing, an elegant reception room at the General Headquarters.

Lieutenant General Sonobe Kazuichiro, who had just been transferred from the Kwantung Army to take over as commander of the 11th Army, sat upright, looking tense.

Opposite him was General Nishio Juzo, the supreme ruler of the entire Chinese battlefield.

Nishio Toshizo personally poured him a cup of tea, his movements slow and deliberate.

“Sonobe-kun,” Nishio Toshizo spoke, his voice deep and resonant, “The strategic position of the 11th Army is of paramount importance. You must take good care of yourself.”

"Hai!" Sonobe Kazuro suddenly lowered his head.

“I encountered a lot of resistance when I recommended you to be the commander.”

Nishio Toshizo changed the subject, his eyes sharpening. "Many people think that you've been in Manchuria all this time, dealing only with bandits and second-rate Soviet troops, and that you don't understand the complexities of fighting the 'Chinese' Central Army."

A fine layer of sweat appeared on Sonobe Kazuichiro's forehead. He knew that the Commander-in-Chief was giving him a warning and a wake-up call.

"The Kwantung Army has always held itself in high esteem, believing itself to be the elite of the Imperial Army. Little did it know that the situation in the war within the Great Wall has changed drastically in recent years!"

Nishio Toshizo's tone became more forceful, "You've come from Northeast China to Central China, and the first thing you need to learn is to keep a low profile! Don't show off your talents!"

"Hai! I understand!"

"The 3rd and 13th Divisions are both elite Imperial troops that have been fighting bloody battles in Central China since the beginning of the war."

Their division commanders, Mr. Yamakyu and Mr. Tanaka, are superior to you in both seniority and military achievements. You must not be arrogant in their presence, nor should you put on airs like the Kwantung Army, lest you incite resentment among your subordinates and cause problems with the execution of orders!

Every word that Nishio Juzo said was like a small hammer, striking Sonobe Kazuichiro's heart.

He was teaching him the way of being a general, and even more so, the way of being an official.

Finally, Nishio Toshizo's tone softened. He stood up and patted Sonobe Kazuichiro on the shoulder.

"The Empire is in dire need of manpower, and it's all up to you. The Eleventh Army is a great place to train people; it has won battles and suffered defeats. Every soldier there is a treasure of the Empire."

You must not let them down, and even more so, you must not let down His Majesty the Emperor's expectations.

The 11th Army had a heavy mission and its manpower was slightly insufficient.

I have prepared to transfer troops from the 13th Army and other places to your command, and three officers from the 3rd Air Regiment will be transferred to Wuhan to assist you.

After saying that, Nishio Toshizo turned and left.

Sonobe Kazuichiro remained seated, his body stiff. After a long while, he slowly raised his head, his eyes already brimming with tears.

On April 22, Sonobe issued an order to the 4th Army to begin the attack on May 4. As a newly appointed official, Sonobe did not dare to remotely command from Wuhan like his predecessor, Okamura Yasuji. On April 26, he moved his command post to Yingshan, and the Yichang campaign officially began.

Boom - boom!

A pale white bolt of lightning, like a giant axe of a god, violently cleaved the pitch-black night in two. Immediately afterward, deafening thunder rolled in, as if to crush the entire earth.

The torrential rain, no, it should be described as a deluge, poured down from the sky like a burst dam of the Milky Way, turning the entire world into a chaotic, submerged swamp.

Raindrops pounded on the ground, splashing water up to waist height, while the wind, mixed with the rain, roared like a wild beast.

Logically, in such extreme weather conditions—with near-zero visibility and wind shear strong enough to tear aircraft wings apart—any airport should be closed, and any aircraft should remain safely in its hangar. But strangely, Yichang Airport did the opposite tonight.

On both sides of the runway, rows of dim yellow indicator lights stubbornly shone despite the raging wind and rain, casting a blurry and hazy band of light through the thick curtain of water, like guiding lights leading to the underworld.

In this turbulent world, a black dot was shakily emerging from the thunderclouds.

That was a Douglas DC-2 passenger plane.

The twin-engine passenger plane, like a helpless leaf, lurched and swayed violently in the raging turbulence, groaning under its strain. It was sometimes violently lifted upwards by a tremendous force, and sometimes slammed hard against the ground, as if it would break apart at any moment.

The plane aimed at the faint band of light and, in an almost suicidal manner, swayed and lurched downwards.

"Squeak—!"

A screeching, teeth-grinding screech rang out as the plane's tires finally made contact with the slippery runway! Huge splashes of water were pushed to the sides by the tires, forming two spectacular walls of water.

The pilot was clearly fighting a desperate battle with the out-of-control aircraft, which was frantically drawing "S" shapes on the runway, with its wings almost touching the ground several times. It finally came to a stop just before it overran the runway.

Before the plane's engines had completely shut down, three black Ford sedans, like cheetahs lying in ambush, suddenly turned on their headlights, roared out of the shadows on the tarmac, kicked up a cloud of water mist, and came to a precise stop next to the passenger plane.

"Click."

The passenger plane's cabin door was pushed open from the inside.

A figure appeared in the doorway. It was a soldier, dressed in a crisp army general's uniform, the three stars on his shoulders gleaming golden in the dim light.

The rain instantly soaked his military cap and shoulders, but he didn't care at all, only scanning the area below with lightning speed.

Several officers who had been waiting by the car immediately rushed over and opened their umbrellas to try to shield him from the rain.

"No need!"

He uttered only three words, his voice not loud, yet carrying an undeniable authority. He waved his hand, pushed aside his umbrella, strode down the gangway, and stepped into the muddy rain.

The officers dared not say a word and immediately surrounded him, escorting him to the back seat of the middle car.

The car door slammed shut.

Without stopping, the three cars immediately turned around, sped off at full throttle, and quickly disappeared into the endless rain and darkness.

The entire process, from the plane landing to the convoy leaving, took no more than three minutes.

As the convoy departed, the lights on the runway at Yichang Airport went out one by one.

This world was once again swallowed up by the raging thunder and rain and boundless darkness, as if the terrifying scene from just moments ago had never happened.

"Squeak-"

The heavy wooden door of the Yichang City Defense Command's operations command room was suddenly pushed open, bringing in a gust of cold wind mixed with the smell of rain and earth.

A figure walked in against the light.

He was soaked to the bone, his dark officer's uniform clinging tightly to his body, outlining his strong and rugged features.

Rain dripped down his hat brim, hair, and chin, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the ground where he walked.

Despite his disheveled appearance, he stood ramrod straight, and his eyes, which shone brightly in the dimly lit corridor, swept across the entire room in an instant.

"stand up!"

With a loud shout from the duty officer, a series of synchronized movements rang out in the operations room.

The chairs were pushed aside, and the leather boots clattered on the floor. The dozen or so generals who had been sitting, standing, or whispering in front of the map all stood up straight at the same moment and saluted the person who came to the door.

"Good day, Commander Li!"

A loud voice echoed in the smoke-filled operations room, instantly igniting the previously heavy and oppressive atmosphere.

The visitor was none other than Li Zongren, the commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone.

He simply waved his hand casually, indicating that everyone didn't need to be so polite, and then strode over to the head of the long conference table.

He ignored the towel offered by the orderly, and instead casually took off his water-soaked military cap, throwing it with a "smack" onto the table covered with a huge battle map.

This simple yet brutal action made everyone's heart skip a beat.

Li Zongren sat down in the main seat, his hands resting on the table, leaning slightly forward. He glanced around at his solemn-looking generals, their eyes filled with expectation, and without uttering a word, broke the brief silence with his booming voice, thick with Guangxi accent.

"Tell us about it!"

His gaze finally settled on the huge map in front of him, and his finger pointed heavily at the word "Yichang." "What's the situation in Yichang now?"

(End of this chapter)