The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 429: Guarding the Secondary Capital
Big drops of rain fell heavily, and with the sound of crackling rain, the entire Banbi Mountain, Tianjia Town Fortress and even the nearby Big and Small Bear Mountains and Yangxin County and other vast areas were shrouded in rain and fog. The whole world was in a misty rain and fog.

The wind chased the rain and the rain chased the wind. Amidst bursts of thunder that were louder than artillery fire, heavy rain fell like beads that had broken off a string. Some fell into the river, and some hit the ground, exploding with water splashes. They repeatedly washed the gray-black soil, breaking up layers of soil and washing out rotten corpses and broken limbs under the soil. The blood-red rain gathered into countless streams and poured into the Yangtze River.

A sudden rainstorm forced the Chinese and Japanese sides, who had been fighting repeatedly over the Tianjiazhen Fortress, to stop all war actions. Thunder replaced the sound of cannons, and rain replaced the sound of gunfire. The rainstorm made it impossible for artillery on both sides to fire, and the extremely low visibility also made machine guns lose their accuracy.

Only the bodies of the dead soldiers of both armies washed out by rain and the countless shell casings and weapon remnants on the ground told of the fierceness of the fighting and bloody battle between the two sides.

Under such heavy rain, the most effective weapons were not firearms, but human bodies and bayonets. However, neither the Japanese 6th Division troops attacking the Tianjiazhen Fortress nor the Chinese defenders of the Tianjiazhen Fortress took advantage of the cover of the heavy rain to launch a sneak attack on the enemy. After days of high-intensity fighting, the officers and soldiers of both sides were extremely exhausted. When the heavy rain came, both sides tacitly chose to cease fire and entered a brief state of peace.

The mighty Yangtze River was beaten by the pouring rain, revealing its ferocious face. The surging yellow river water roared and accelerated, rushing past with the momentum of swallowing everything. The sound of rain, river water and thunder mixed together, forming a power that was completely different from the sound of guns and shouts of killing.

Similarly, Banbi Mountain opposite the Tianjiazhen Fortress also fell silent. During the days of fierce fighting, the artillery group on Banbi Mountain had been supporting the defenders of the Tianjiazhen Fortress across the river with extremely fierce artillery fire. However, in the face of such heavy rain, the powerful 150mm howitzers and 120mm naval guns on Banbi Mountain, as well as the mountain artillery of the assault corps, had to cease firing.

Banbi Mountain and Tianjia Town thus entered a rare period of peace and truce.

In the command post on top of Banbi Mountain, He Wei was listening to the sound of rain outside the command post while reading a newspaper carefully, with a rather strange look on his face.

He Wei saw the newspaper article three days after the great victory was first published. However, the description of the battle process of the great victory in the newspaper made He Wei very surprised. At this time, he was holding a copy of the Central Daily News in his hand.

This newspaper is the current official newspaper of the National Government and the leader among the current domestic newspapers in China. In addition to its responsibilities of "clarifying the doctrine and promoting national policies", it also emphasizes the responsibilities of "supporting the Central Committee, eliminating opposition, consolidating the foundation of the party, and safeguarding the foundation of the country". The editors-in-chief of the newspaper are all selected by Chiang Kai-shek himself or his confidants, which shows its status.

The report on the great victory achieved by the assault corps published in the Central Daily News really surprised He Wei. Looking at the extremely exaggerated and even slightly abstract content, He Wei could not help but admire the imagination of those reporters and writers.

It has to be said that the inspectors and reporters of the battlefield inspection team were quite dedicated to their duties. That day, after He Wei took them to the high ground and saw the pits and valleys full of Japanese corpses, he thought that such a scene would be enough to intuitively reflect the number of enemies killed by the assault corps. However, the reporters were not satisfied with this and insisted on taking close-up photos.

Therefore, He Wei sent someone to take them to the big pit where the Japanese soldiers' bodies were buried and took close photos of the Japanese soldiers' bodies. The highest commander of the Hata Detachment, Major General Hata Shigeichi, who was killed, had his grave dug up, and the reporters took a close-up of the body with their cameras.

He Wei still remembers the scene vividly and has to admire the professionalism of those reporters. Although He Wei has been through many battles and is no stranger to the horrific scenes, corpses, and broken limbs on the battlefield, the scene of those reporters taking pictures of Hata Shigeichi's rotten body, which even showed signs of gigantism, still makes He Wei feel quite sick.

Even after the reporters finished photographing the Japanese soldiers' corpses, He Wei burned thousands of them. The scenes of blazing flames were all captured by the reporters with their cameras. Moreover, many reporters almost vomited in the stench of the corpses while forcing themselves to take pictures. He Wei was very impressed by their professionalism.

However, after the field investigation and filming were completed, even though the officers of the battlefield inspection team sent by the Military Commission had fully confirmed the combat achievements of the Assault Corps, the group of reporters were still not satisfied and requested to interview He Wei and the main officers of the Assault Corps' participating troops.

In response to this, He Wei did not refuse, but met the reporters' interview requests 100%. From He Wei himself, to the battalion and company commanders who participated in the battle, and even some sergeants and soldiers, all accepted interviews from reporters.

The battlefield inspection operation led by the Military Commission came to an end only when the reporters were satisfied and had collected enough materials. Of course, in order to serve these big guys well, He Wei specially ordered the director of the logistics department, Li Youcai, to present a thousand yuan as a parting gift to the battlefield inspection team and reporters when they returned to Wuhan by boat.

In short, the inspection and interview trip of the inspection team and reporters to the assault corps was a great success. The assault corps's achievements were confirmed, the reporters got materials, the inspection team successfully completed their tasks, and the reporters and the inspection team also received gifts. It was a great success for both parties.

After seeing off these uncles, He Wei had actually been looking forward to seeing how the Military Commission would react after the inspection team reported to the Military Commission. However, he had never expected that the great victory he had won would be publicized as a typical example by the Kuomintang's propaganda machine in such a short period of time. As the news spread, it quickly fermented and became the front-page headlines of major newspapers.

Although He Wei was surprised by this, he was somewhat mentally prepared. However, the content published in the newspaper was beyond his expectations. In the Central Daily News in his hand, the entire battle decision-making and command process of this victorious battle, which was officially named "Yangxin Victory", was described in detail in a full page and a half, and He Wei was undoubtedly the protagonist.

The content recorded in the newspaper was obviously based on the oral interviews of He Wei by reporters, and the general outline was basically the same, but the specific details of He Wei's command decisions and the specific course of the battle were completely changed. It did not seem like the command and decision-making process of a modern war at all, but instead seemed like a scene from an ancient war or a legendary drama describing a war, full of magical colors.

In the record of the battle process published in the Central Daily News, the confrontation between the Assault Corps and the Hata Detachment was transformed into a round-based duel by the reporters' exaggerated writing style, and the role played by He Wei in the newspaper article did not seem like a modern military commander at all, but rather like an ancient general.

The Chief of Staff Wang Yuanling, several battalion commanders of the assault corps and some company and platoon leaders also appeared in the newspaper article. These people did not look like officers of a modern army in the article at all, but more like generals under the ancient general He Wei. He Wei didn't know what to say anyway.

It can only be said that the imagination and writing skills of the reporters who came to the assault corps for on-site interviews were really amazing. Even the Central Daily News was like this, and other newspapers were similar. The records of the battle process were all divergent and adapted based on He Wei's oral materials. Some newspapers even made up a drama specifically for this great victory and He Wei himself.

In terms of battle results, these newspapers, which described the battle process in various ways, had surprisingly consistent records, recording the number of enemy troops killed in the Yangxin victory as more than 24,000.

At the same time, in order to match the number of more than 24,000 enemies killed, all newspapers also announced that "In this battle, our assault corps annihilated the entire Japanese reinforced Hata Brigade."

He Wei estimated that this unified number of enemy troops annihilated and the organization of a reinforced brigade of Japanese troops annihilated should be a unified requirement of the Kuomintang government's top brass to various newspapers and propaganda machines regarding the results of the Yangxin victory.

The Central Daily News, the most authoritative official newspaper in China, used extra large font to set the tone for the nature of the Yangxin victory - "saving the war situation from danger and safeguarding the Yangtze and Han rivers."

In just twelve words, the significance of the great victory won by the assault corps was elevated to the level of successfully saving the situation of the war and protecting Wuhan with a thrilling annihilation battle. This victory was even given great strategic significance, which shows the importance the top leaders of the National Government attached to this victory.

In short, the Yangxin victory is bound to continue to be the focus of the National Government’s propaganda and the core topic of public opinion during the war for quite some time to come. It will also become a ray of light in the current gloomy national war situation, with decline and defeats.

"Haha, Captain, this photo is well taken, especially with the old devil Hata Shigeichi next to your photo as a foil, which makes you look even more heroic and extraordinary."

Wang Yuanling pointed at the half-length photo of He Wei published in the Central Daily News and joked with a smile.

Next to He Wei's photo is a close-up of Hata Shigekazu's body of the same size. What Wang Yuanling said is indeed true. When He Wei took this half-length photo, he was wearing a tweed officer's dress uniform with the rank of lieutenant colonel, which made him look quite heroic.

He Wei's righteousness was further highlighted by the photo of Hata Shigekazu's rotten head which had already begun to rot and had a hideous look on its face. However, He Wei always felt it was strange when Wang Yuanling compared himself to a dead person.

Putting down the newspaper, He Wei smiled and shook his head, saying: "This group of reporters really dare to write. The Central Daily News's detailed battle process about our corps' victory is written as if it were a biography of Yue Fei. I feel like I am Yue Fei, and you and the battalion and company commanders below are all Niu Gao-like figures. This is not a description of a modern army fighting at all, it's completely a war of ancient armies. I think it's just short of writing about me and Shigekazu Hata personally going into battle, riding horses and fighting each other."
"Reporters don't understand military affairs. Although you, the captain, accepted their interview, they can't understand so many professional military terms and command decisions in a short time. So they can only write like this. Moreover, the articles written in this way can also be easily understood by ordinary people. Ordinary people can understand and like to read such battle records. If it is written like the troop diaries and battle reports written by our staff officers, it is indeed very standardized, but I guess few people can understand it."

"Newspapers must ensure sales. First, the more newspapers are sold, the better the publicity effect of this great victory will be. Second, each newspaper also needs to make money. The more it sells, the more money it will make. No one wants to do business at a loss."

He Wei nodded and threw down the newspaper. In any case, he was very satisfied with the current result. Although the publicity about the battle was a bit exaggerated, the reputation of the assault corps' great victory in this battle had been established, and it was an unexpected surprise that it received extensive publicity from the official government.

In other words, the publicity and media attention that the Yangxin victory has received have already exceeded He Wei's expectations. Originally, He Wei just wanted the Military Commission to see that he had led the assault corps to win a real victory, and did not think much about anything else.

Unexpectedly, in just a few days, the great victory he and the assault team won actually made the front page headlines, was widely publicized, and suddenly became a "top streamer".

The Assault Corps, a unit that had been established not long ago, became famous because of this, and as for He Wei, his reputation naturally rose as well.

As early as the Battle of Xinkou, he had been featured in newspapers for capturing the Japanese regiment flag and the Japanese tank. He was quite famous and was once called a celebrity in the National Army. Although he also made great contributions in the Battle of Nanjing, due to the special nature of He Wei's record of killing Japanese royal family members in the Battle of Nanjing, He Wei's achievements in Nanjing were not widely publicized. Of course, the top leaders of the National Government were well aware of this matter, so He Wei once again made an appearance with the top leaders.

Now, He Wei, as the chief officer of the assault corps, made the front page headlines of newspapers because of the Yangxin victory. He was once again pushed to the public by the official propaganda machine as a meritorious officer of the National Army and became a hero who had made military achievements.

Obviously, the situation will be very good for both the assault corps and He Wei himself. As for how good it will be and how good it will be, He Wei does not know for the time being.

All the benefits that this great victory brought to the assault corps and himself needed to be decided by the superiors. All He Wei could do was to wait patiently for news from his superiors.

The officers and soldiers of the assault corps were also excited and encouraged after learning about the victory in Yangxin. The morale and determination of the officers and soldiers of the entire corps rose to a new height. Many officers and soldiers were even eager to fight, hoping that He Wei would lead them across the river and destroy the Japanese Sixth Division on the other side of the river. The morale of the officers and soldiers of the assault corps can be seen from this.

A few days later, He Wei finally received a call from the Military Commission. The content of this telegram was not about rewarding merits, nor was it a verbal encouragement full of nice words. Instead, it was very brief and shocked He Wei - "The secondary capital is urgent. I order your unit to be changed into the secondary capital garrison force and set sail for the Sichuan Provincial Secondary Capital as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)