Chapter 63: The End of the Battle of Yuanping, How Should Chu Yunfei Be Rewarded? (Requesting Subscriptions)

Nanjing.

The Chairman's Official Residence.

Late at night, it was still brilliantly lit.

Ever since Liu Shi, upon whom high hopes had been pinned, was routed by the Japanese forces along the Pinghan Railway, Chiang Kai-shek rarely smiled.

At this moment, he was lying on a rocking chair, his gaze absent, deep in thought.

Aide Zhu Peiji stepped close and slightly bowed. "Generalissimo... General Wei has sent the latest telegram."

"The 54th Division under his command, Liu Jiaqi's unit, successfully annihilated the main force of the Japanese 15th Independent Mixed Brigade, killing over two thousand five hundred of the enemy, with not a single one escaping."

"Hmm!"

Chiang's usual speaking voice was very soft. A single "hmm" signified that he had already acknowledged it.

Then he waved his hand.

Zhu Peiji subsequently left the room.

The Battle of Yuanping.

Chiang Kai-shek was naturally well aware of it.

In order to buy time for the deployment of defenses along the Xinkou front and for troop movements, the 196th Brigade was ordered to hold Yuanping for seven days, and then, by order of Elder Yan, hold it for three more days.

As a result, the entire force was annihilated.

The fallen Brigade Commander Jiang Yuzhen, Chief of Staff Gu Tai, and the two regimental commanders under their command were all posthumously promoted in rank.

Furthermore, local administrative personnel were arranged to provide pensions and resettlement for their families.

Compared to those who died in battle, how Chu Yunfei should be commended immediately placed Chiang Kai-shek in a dilemma.

The 358th Regiment was directly under the war zone command.

In other words, Elder Yan also shared credit for this battle.

Because of this, commending Chu Yunfei inevitably meant commending Elder Yan as well.

Given Elder Yan's personality, he would undoubtedly seize the opportunity to extract greater benefits, using Chu Yunfei as an advantageous card to play a larger role in his political struggle with Chiang Kai-shek.

Chu Yunfei certainly deserved a heavy reward, but how should the Commander-in-Chief of the Second War Zone be rewarded?

Having lost Tuanichengkou, there was still the major victory at the Pingxing Pass, so Chiang had not bickered with Elder Yan over that.

There was the major victory at Ruyuekou, but after all, the 33rd Army had lost Ruyuekou and also Fanzhi County seat. Elder Yan naturally would not proactively bring trouble upon himself.

Yet now, although Yuanping, Guoxian, and Xinxian could not be held, they had after all wiped out around three thousand fresh Japanese troops.

The 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army had even killed the Japanese Major General Brigade Commander Seiichiro Shinohara.

At present, the battle was basically over, and the 358th Regiment was to withdraw to Taiyuan for replenishment according to the original combat plan.

How to commend Chu Yunfei seemed to have genuinely become a thorny problem.

On the other side.

The Zhunshuicun Battalion Headquarters.

With the conclusion of the battle, how to distribute the spoils became an issue laid out on the table.

In terms of captured equipment, an armored vehicle with damaged tracks went to the Eighth Route Army forces.

The Third Battalion obtained two 90mm mortars.

Aside from that, there were four "Banana-handle" machine guns, with the two sides taking two each.

As for the Type 92 heavy machine gun, Luo Weiguo did not want it.

He chose instead to take ten more Arisaka Type 38 rifles and ammunition.

Although the Japanese grenades had decent performance, they lacked steel helmets, making them inconvenient to use.

Luo Weiguo simply opted for the scarce 6.5mm ammunition.

The Japanese were already short of ammunition and shells; otherwise, they would not have been so easily annihilated by them.

"Battalion Commander Luo, there is a telegram for you."

Luo Weiguo, who was discussing the distribution of captured supplies with Regiment Commander Cheng, took the telegram handed over by the young soldier.

"Regiment Commander Cheng, to cut a long story short, our Third Battalion is withdrawing to Taiyuan!"

"Taiyuan? Isn't your main force at Yuanping?"

Luo Weiguo smiled and explained, "The vanguard of the 15th Independent Mixed Brigade has already been annihilated by our 14th Group Army. The 358th Regiment has successfully completed its blocking mission, and our unit is also ordered to go to Taiyuan for rest and replenishment."

"Alright then, I wish you a safe journey!"

After bidding farewell to Luo Weiguo, Regiment Commander Cheng continued leading his men to inventory the captured supplies.

"Regiment Commander, their Third Battalion doesn't seem to have taken much stuff... These rifles look like they can still be used after some repairs!"

"What do you know? The 358th Regiment has deep pockets and grand assets. Isn't it normal that they look down on such scraps?"

Hearing this, Regiment Commander Cheng turned his head and glared at the platoon leader. "What are you talking about?"

"Categorize all items and wait for the brigade commander to make a unified distribution. In addition, have each battalion compile the casualty figures and submit them to me before sunset today. I have a meeting tomorrow!"

"Yes!"

Over here at Zhunshuicun, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Eighth Route Army had joined forces and fought another small yet glorious victory.

Counting the annihilation battle north of Xinkou and the consumption during the Yuanping defensive battle, Elder Yan made a rough estimate.

They had actually eliminated a full five thousand-plus puppet Japanese and Manchukuo troops. Calculating by casualties, the Japanese casualties were probably at least eight thousand men.

It was just a pity that the losses of their own personnel were still unknown.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

The withdrawn 358th Regiment successfully arrived at the outskirts of Taiyuan City.

Along the way, many Shanxi commoners were inquiring about their unit designation and combat situation.

The soldiers thought nothing of it and told them it was the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army's 358th Regiment.

Yet, never had they expected that upon hearing their designation, these commoners would become overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

Some villagers stuffed new cloth shoes into wooden baskets, grabbing a soldier and trying to stuff them into his arms.

But the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army soldiers dared not accept them.

The Eighth Route Army had discipline, and the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army likewise had discipline.

If these items were sent to the regimental headquarters and Chu Yunfei accepted them, that would be one thing.

Giving them directly to the soldiers—even if they were given a thousand guts, they would not dare to privately accept things from the commoners.

As they got closer to Taiyuan City, the enthusiasm of the commoners became increasingly palpable.

As if notified in advance, many commoners stood on both sides outside the city, waving the colorful flags in their hands and loudly welcoming the triumphant return of the 358th Regiment.

Riding a tall steed and marching amidst the troops, Chu Yunfei frowned deeply.

He spoke up, "Ligong, is Elder Yan's move somewhat inappropriate?"

Fang Ligong thought Chu Yunfei was worried about security and directly spoke to reassure him, "Please rest assured, Commander. Elder Yan has most likely arranged for quite a few plainclothes agents to mingle in the crowd."

"Taiyuan is also a frontline battle zone; doing this is somewhat flamboyant."

Chu Yunfei was unimpressed by such displays. Putting on a welcome ceremony was far less useful than replenishing his ammunition.

Had the supplies been delivered on time and transported effectively during the previous battles, the First and Second Battalions would not have suffered such heavy casualties.

The reason they could not hold the defensive positions later on was not because the 358th Regiment lacked combat troops, but entirely because their ammunition was completely exhausted—grenades and even mortar shells had all been fired off.

Ever since the Battle of Ruyuekou, apart from receiving a single resupply in Xingxian, they had fought continuously for nearly ten days without receiving a single supply drop. This left Chu Yunfei quite dissatisfied.

At the end of the road, outside the North Gate of Taiyuan City.

At the head stood Sun Cuiya, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Sixth Group Army, and Major General Senior Advisor Xie Ming.

Behind them stood several field-grade officers.

Basically, they were all familiar faces, predominantly native sons of Shanxi and Elder Yan's close cronies.

"Commander, it looks like General Sun and General Xie."

"Ligong, what medicine do you suppose Elder Yan is selling in this gourd?"

Fang Ligong pushed his glasses up. At this moment, he could not figure out the situation either, as Taiyuan had not given any prior notice.

Both of them currently felt somewhat passive.

Riding forward and dismounting, Chu Yunfei and Fang Ligong tidied their military uniforms and walked toward Sun Cuiya's group.

Standing at attention, the two saluted simultaneously.

"General Sun, General Xie, gentlemen!"

Sun Cuiya smiled and returned the salute, then stepped forward to explain, "This is Elder Yan's arrangement, saying he wanted to give you, this great hero, a surprise."

"Come, come, come, take pictures, take pictures."

Reporters who could no longer hold back eagerly pressed their camera shutters.

Chu Yunfei was somewhat surprised and muttered softly, "Why are there foreign devils here?"

Hearing this, Xie Ming whispered a reminder, "Ahem!"

"General Sun, Regiment Commander Chu, please look over here!"

After the photography session concluded, Chu Yunfei, Fang Ligong, and others followed Sun Cuiya on foot into Taiyuan City.

Sun Cuiya boarded the lead car first.

Chu Yunfei followed Xie Ming into the second car.

As for his subordinate 358th Regiment, led by one of the field-grade officers, they headed to the military camp outside the city for rest and replenishment.

"General Xie... What is Elder Yan playing at?"

"Jiuguan has fallen. The Japanese 20th Division did not launch a frontal attack southward from Jingxing toward the Niangziguan area; instead, they headed west from the right side of Jingxing, cutting diagonally through the gap between Zeng's unit and Zhao Shoushan's two units, and arrived at the undefended Jiuguan area."

Hearing this, Chu Yunfei could not help feeling a sense of helplessness.

The battle had barely even begun, yet a batch of little Japanese devils had already rushed to the flank and rear of the local defending forces.

The Niangziguan area was already sparsely garrisoned.

The Zeng unit mentioned by Advisor Xie referred to the 7th and 72nd Divisions under Zeng Wanzhong.

"General Huang, what are his intentions?"

"Currently, General Huang has personally rushed to the Jingxing area to inspect the national defense fortifications and has dispatched troops to intercept them."

"However, because the Japanese troops moved too quickly, the 30th Division was ambushed by over a thousand Japanese, and the 17th Division, in order to avoid Japanese bombardment, was attacked by the Japanese before they could even enter their positions upon arrival."

Xie Ming sighed and continued, "Currently, the Niangziguan frontline is in absolute chaos, and the situation is crumbling. Elder Yan wants to use your Battle of Yuanping, Yunfei, to boost and uplift morale."

"Since the Niangziguan frontline has become this critical, where are we heading?"

Xie Ming fell silent for a moment before explaining, "Elder Yan has other arrangements. Your unit coming to Taiyuan will inevitably need some rest and reorganization, and it will take some time anyway before heading to Yangquan to garrison."

"General Xie, do you mean...?"

Chu Yunfei began to catch on, but Xie Ming was unwilling to elaborate further, instead steering away from the topic to chat with him about matters on the battlefield.

"When you were in Xingxian, didn't you ask me to put in a good word with the Nanjing authorities? That matter has already been settled."

"Your old classmate, Qian Zhaoyou, is estimated to report to your 358th Regiment this month."

"Elder Yan intends to appoint him as the commander of the Fifth Infantry Battalion and also asked me to sound out your opinion."

Chu Yunfei smiled wryly and said, "It's a pity my 358th Regiment only has four infantry battalions..."

Xie Ming cast a meaningful look at Chu Yunfei and reminded him, "That's precisely why Elder Yan is having him serve as the fifth battalion commander!"