Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 308 Better to risk life than wealth

Upon hearing Su Yaoyang's merciless words, Yang Aiyuan was initially angry, but then a hint of helplessness appeared on her face.

He originally thought that, with Yan Xishan's reputation and the status of the Jin-Sui Army, even if it was somewhat untimely, he could smoothly take over Taiyuan, a strategic location.

Unexpectedly, Su Yaoyang was so disrespectful, directly pushing him into the eye of the storm.

But he also knew that now was not the time for a head-on confrontation; he had to lower his stance and play the emotional card.

“Brother Bai, Commander Su, I know that the Jin-Sui Army has taken advantage of you in this matter, but you should also understand Commander Yan’s predicament.”

Yang Aiyuan's voice softened considerably, and her weathered face looked somewhat tired, with the wrinkles around her eyes appearing to deepen.

He picked up the teacup on the table, took a small sip, and seemed to be trying to calm the turmoil in his heart.

"After Taiyuan fell in 1939, Commander Yan led the remnants of the Jin-Sui Army to retreat to Kenanpo."

He spoke slowly, his tone filled with reminiscence of the past and lament for Yan Xishan's difficult situation: "Although we have worked hard for the past three years, in the end, we cannot support the whole country alone."

Yang Aiyuan's gaze swept over everyone present, and she continued to complain.

"A few days ago, Commander Yan saw how well you fought and was pleased. He also had the idea of ​​sending troops to join you in recovering Taiyuan."

He used the word "beautiful" with genuine sincerity, as if he truly admired the Shanxi militia's achievements.

At this point, Yang Aiyuan leaned forward again, lowering her voice slightly, as if in a consultative tone.

"Moreover, Commander Yan also said that he would not let you help for nothing. You can make any demands you have, and Commander Yan will never refuse if it is within his power."

When Yang Aiyuan said, "Commander Yan will never refuse to do anything that he can do," his tone was resolute, carrying the decisiveness unique to soldiers.

However, who are the people present?

Bai Chongxi was one of the leaders of the Guangxi clique, known for his wisdom and skill. How could he be fooled by such naive words?

As for Su Yaoyang, needless to say, young people in the information-explosive 21st century are already tired of hearing this kind of empty promises, so how could Su Yaoyang possibly be fooled?

He smiled slightly, leaning comfortably back in his chair, his gaze calmly meeting Yang Aiyuan's. His composure made it seem as if he weren't sitting at a negotiating table deciding the future of Shanxi, but rather enjoying a leisurely afternoon.

"In that case, I will only make one request."

As Su Yaoyang spoke, he glanced at Yang Aiyuan with a slightly mocking look, the faint smile on his lips making him hard to decipher.

“That means after the recapture of Taiyuan, I don’t want a single brick, tile, blade of grass, or tree in the city.” He paused, then changed the subject, his tone casual and nonchalant. “Commander Yan only needs to pay me two million silver dollars, and half of it must be paid in advance.”

The moment those words were spoken, the air in the conference room froze.

"Two million?!"

Yang Aiyuan practically jumped up from his seat. The bitterness and helplessness he had deliberately created vanished instantly, replaced by unbelievable astonishment. His eyes widened as if he had heard something unbelievable.

Even his rough voice became somewhat shrill due to shock.

"Do you think Commander Yan has a mountain of gold in his house?"

He glared at Su Yaoyang, his voice trembling slightly, waving his right hand in the air as if trying to express his disbelief, "Do you know how many trucks it takes to haul two million dollars?"

Su Yaoyang's smile remained unchanged; he didn't even adjust his posture, still leaning lazily against the back of his chair. He glanced indifferently at the emotionally agitated Yang Aiyuan, his tone carrying undisguised indifference.

"I do not know."

He responded casually to Yang Aiyuan's question about "a few trucks," as if it were not something he needed to care about at all.

"All I know is that we're worth the price."

Su Yaoyang's voice wasn't loud, but his words were full of confidence and self-assurance.

He raised his finger and tapped the table lightly, staring at Yang Aiyuan's face as he said, "Commander Yang may not know, but the shells we've fired and the bombs our planes have dropped in the last few days are worth about this much."

These words were like a thunderbolt, each one striking Yang Aiyuan's eardrums like a heavy hammer, leaving him no room for rebuttal.

Yang Aiyuan froze. He wanted to retort, to loudly rebuke the other party's greed and unreasonableness, but the words were stuck in his throat.

He opened his mouth, but found himself speechless.

If anyone else had said that, Yang Aiyuan would have slapped them hard across the face without saying a word, making sure to break their teeth.

But since these words came from Su Yaoyang's mouth, no one could refute them.

After all, Su Yaoyang's reputation as a "nouveau riche" had spread not only throughout Shanxi, but even been reported in Chongqing newspapers over the years.

It's worth noting that at the end of last year, this company sold fifty P-40 Tomahawk fighter jets to Chongqing at cost price. The Central Air Force relied on these aircraft...
They formed an air defense line and damaged or shot down dozens of Japanese aircraft.

It is said that this young man used to throw bombs at the Japanese like it was nothing, and every air raid involved real money being thrown down.

Thinking of this, Yang Aiyuan's lips twitched involuntarily a few times, and a sense of powerlessness welled up in her heart.

The brigade commander continued, "We, the Eighth Route Army, don't need much. We just need the machinery, equipment, and skilled workers from the Taiyuan Arsenal."

"No... Absolutely not!"

Yang Aiyuan slammed her hand on the table, making a sharp "smack" that made the teacups on the table jump.

He suddenly stood up, his burly body instantly exuding an overwhelming aura of power. His eyes widened as he stared intently at the brigade commander, as if he wanted to devour him alive.

If Su Yaoyang's offer of two million silver dollars had merely struck a nerve with Yang Aiyuan, causing him waves of pain and suffocation, then the brigade commander's current condition felt like cutting off his own flesh.

His emotions, which had just begun to calm down, instantly exploded like a powder keg that had been ignited.

The Taiyuan Arsenal was an extremely important facility!

It is not just a factory, but the lifeline of the entire Jin-Sui Army, a treasure of Shanxi's industry, and the culmination of Yan Xishan's decades of hard work!
Before the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, this military production base, known as the Taiyuan Repair Shop or the Northwest Manufacturing Plant, was second to none in scale and production capacity in the entire North China region.

At its peak, it had as many as eighteen branch factories and more than 15,000 skilled workers, making it the largest military industrial complex in North China.

It could produce a wide variety of weapons, from ordinary rifles and light and heavy machine guns to powerful mortars (including 75mm and 82mm calibers), mountain guns, field guns, and even hand grenades and shells that were consumed daily. Thanks to the support of this arsenal, the equipment of the Jin-Sui Army was even more sophisticated than that of the Central Army on the eve of the War of Resistance against Japan, which was undoubtedly a remarkable "strange thing" in the Chinese army at that time. However, after the fall of Taiyuan, this arsenal, which carried countless hopes and dreams, was forced to change its nature, becoming a bloody machine for the Japanese army to produce weapons and ammunition, and a sharp blade in the hands of the invaders to harm Chinese soldiers and civilians.

Now that Taiyuan is about to be liberated, the arsenal has naturally become a coveted prize for everyone. But the brigade commander wants to take the credit. How can Yang Aiyuan tolerate this?
Seeing Yang Aiyuan's furious outburst, the brigade commander remained unusually calm, even with a hint of sneer.

He neither got up nor raised his voice, but simply sat there staring at Yang Aiyuan as if watching a farce.

"I know that the Taiyuan Arsenal is indeed the brainchild of Commander Yan, but let's not beat around the bush."

The brigade commander sneered, "Long before Taiyuan fell, you had already moved most of the machinery and workers from the Taiyuan Arsenal to the interior and other places, leaving only some old machinery and a few workers."

Upon hearing this, Yang Aiyuan's expression changed, and a faint blush appeared on his old face, as if his secret had been exposed.

The brigade commander ignored Yang Aiyuan's reaction and continued unhurriedly, "After the Japanese occupied Taiyuan, they even had to bring in a batch of equipment from the mainland to barely keep the arsenal running."

As he spoke, a mocking expression appeared on his face, as if to say, what you're fighting over now is nothing but an empty shell, or even something the Japanese are using to prolong your lives.

"So you don't need to put on this act for us. We're all sensible people, so there's no need to put on an act."

Yang Aiyuan's face flushed slightly, speechless after being told off by the brigade commander.

He knew perfectly well that what the brigade commander said was true, but he certainly couldn't admit it on the surface.

Suppressing his anger, he stubbornly retorted, "Even if what you say is true, an old machine is still a machine, and it can still produce weapons and ammunition. How can you just take it away like that?"

However, when he said this, his tone clearly lacked confidence.

Seeing that even at this point, Yang Aiyuan still acted as if she would rather die than part with her money, the brigade commander's originally calm expression gradually darkened, and a hint of impatience and annoyance flashed in his eyes.

He gave a cold laugh, a laugh that carried a chilling coldness that seemed to lower the temperature in the conference room.

"Since Commander Yang is so reluctant to part with even a little bit of his things, then we have nothing more to say." The brigade commander suddenly stood up.

"Since that's the case, our 386th Brigade is not going to fight this battle. You Jin-Sui Army are unwilling to spend even a single copper coin, so you can keep Taiyuan City to yourself and slowly devour it."

"Commander, please wait!"

Seeing that the brigade commander had actually stood up and was about to leave, Yang Aiyuan panicked. He shouted out those words almost reflexively, his voice even carrying a barely perceptible tremor and urgency.

How could he not panic?
Since the devastating battle of 1937, the once strong and formidable Jin-Sui Army was severely weakened, with its elite troops suffering heavy losses and its total strength reduced from 200,000 at its peak to a mere 100,000.

Although we have had several years of rest and recuperation, the damage is still severe, and we have not yet fully recovered.

Moreover, who is Commander Yan?

That was the infamous "King of Shanxi," a man of great cunning, who would even ponder for a long time before drinking a sip of vinegar.

Let him lead the Jin-Sui Army to follow behind the Shanxi militia and the Eighth Route Army, doing nothing and picking up some easy profits, that would be no problem at all.

Yan Xishan would absolutely not allow them to be the main force and fight a real bloody battle against the heavily armed Japanese.

He understood this better than anyone else.

If the Eighth Route Army were to abandon their duties, Su Yaoyang's Shanxi militia might have to follow suit and leave as well.

By then, only the Jin-Sui Army will be left to fight alone. What's the point of fighting then? Forget about recapturing Taiyuan, they might even be surrounded and wiped out by the Japanese.

"Brigade Commander... let's talk this out, let's talk this out."

In a moment of desperation, Yang Aiyuan rushed to the brigade commander in one stride, stretched out his hands to block him, and his face was full of an almost obsequious smile. The dignity of a second-level general and the anger he had shown earlier had long since vanished.

His tone also took a 180-degree turn, becoming unusually soft and earnest.

"Brigade Commander, how can you give up halfway through a battle?"

If this gets out, wouldn't it become a huge joke? It would be a great loss to your department's reputation. In his desperation, he tried to use reputation to blackmail the brigade commander, but these words sounded so ridiculous at this moment.

"no way."

The brigade commander stopped getting up, but still maintained the posture of preparing to leave.

He spread his hands, making a helpless expression, his sharp eyes staring directly at Yang Aiyuan, his tone showing no sign of compromise.

"Commander Yang, let me be frank with you, we are attacking Taiyuan for that arsenal."

If even this most basic requirement cannot be met, then what's the point of us continuing to fight?

He paused, then asked in return, "Don't you think that makes sense?"

These words, like an ultimatum, were blunt and cruel, pushing Yang Aiyuan to the brink of despair, leaving her with no room for maneuver.

"This……"

Yang Aiyuan felt as if his throat was stuffed with cotton; he opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word.

He was torn between his inner struggles and his own mind, and in the end, all the struggles turned into a long sigh filled with helplessness and bitterness.

“Since that’s the case, then… alright…” he managed to squeeze out these words through gritted teeth, “I… I agree to this condition.”

"really?"

"really!"

"No regrets?"

"Never regret it!"

"If that's the case, then there's still room for discussion. May I ask how many troops Commander Yan plans to deploy this time?"

"This one……"

(End of this chapter)