20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 832 Family Letter
The two armies' positions were very close together.

Zhao Zhengbei led his men on a rapid advance, and after a few minutes of charging, they could see the enemy's trenches and fortifications right in front of them.

There appeared to be two units there, an infantry regiment and an artillery regiment.

The shelling continued intermittently, but no explosions were heard from the rear of the Fengtian Army.

The North Wind Force's offensive momentum was not hindered in any way.

As they approached firing range, Zhao Zhengbei suddenly shouted, "Fire!"

The soldiers understood immediately, and raised their guns, firing several shots into the sky.

As expected, the enemy positions did not launch any resistance; not only were there no machine guns, but even the sound of rifles could not be heard.

As they ran closer, several figures suddenly emerged from the trench, raising their arms and desperately shouting towards the north wind: "The Fengtian Army won't fight the Fengtian Army! They're on our side! Don't fire!"

Zhao Zhengbei was truly fearless. Holding a mirror box made in Dagu, he rushed to the front of the column, stood on a sandbag above the trench, and asked sternly, "Which unit are you from?"

The soldiers quickly reported their unit numbers.

Zhao Zhengbei then asked, "Where is your regimental commander?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than two officers emerged from the second trench and shouted, "Here we are! We spoke with the young marshal last night. We're not fighting anymore, really not fighting anymore!"

"Damn it, you're eating the old marshal's food and then trying to undermine him? What are you thinking?"

"This...this can't be blamed on us. It was all instigated by Guo the devil. The brothers didn't want to fight in the first place."

"Bullshit!" Zhao Zhengbei cursed. "If you really didn't want to fight, would you have lost Jinzhou?"

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from the trench—"Due north?"

Zhao Zhengbei was taken aback. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was his old classmate Lin Zhidong from when he studied at the Military Academy.

"Little Fatty?" Beifeng asked, frowning. "How come you're confused too?"

Lin Zhidong held several crumpled white leaflets in his hand and said, "It's not that I'm confused, but all the brothers on our side have been fooled by that devil Guo!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers quickly nodded in agreement: "Yes, after we captured Jinzhou, we realized we were on a pirate ship, but by then it was too late. Guo the devil said that Staff Officer Yang had betrayed us and joined the Japanese, and that he wanted to take us back to Fengtian to fight against the Japanese. He also said that this operation was approved by the Young Marshal, but when we saw the leaflets, we found out that he was just spouting nonsense!"

The two regimental commanders also said, "We were both promoted by the young marshal. Now that the young marshal is on the other side, what's the point of fighting? We're not fighting anymore, no matter what!"

"Where is Guo the devil?" Zhao Zhengbei asked.

The group shook their heads and said, "I'm not sure... They should still be in Xinmin County, right?"

Zhao Zhengbei frowned. Guo Jun's headquarters was still intact, which meant that other troops had likely not yet surrendered, and the decisive battle at Julu River was not yet over.

Unexpectedly, the artillery regimental commander said, "It's hopeless. They won't last long. The ammunition supplies that came last night were all empty shells without fuses. I guess the situation is the same for the other artillery regiments. I suspect that someone in headquarters is planning to defect. This battle will probably be over soon."

At this moment, Lin Zhidong jumped out of the trench, approached Beifeng, and whispered, "Zhengbei, is it too late for us to surrender now? I saw on this leaflet that the old marshal will not pursue the matter, so at least we can save our lives, right?"

Zhao Zhengbei dared not make the decision on his own.

The order was urgent, so the soldiers were lightly equipped and left behind the rear of the position without even bringing the regimental radio, all in order to cross the river as quickly as possible.

However, it didn't matter. The two sides were originally one entity and their radio stations were interconnected, so they simply used each other's radios to send messages to the command center.

These two regimental commanders had obviously communicated with the young marshal in advance.

Shortly afterward, the command headquarters forwarded a reply to the headquarters.

Old Zhang telegraphed the soldiers at the front: "Guo's rebellion has resulted in chaos. Only the ringleader will be punished; the rest of the officers and soldiers will not be investigated!"

Lin Zhidong and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately afterwards, the command ordered Zhao Zhengbei to accept the surrender of the defecting officers and soldiers, organize their weapons and equipment, and wait for reinforcements to arrive before making further arrangements.

……

On this day, the Fengtian Army officially launched its counter-offensive across the river.

Japanese planes bombed relentlessly, causing heavy casualties to Guo's army. The army collapsed like a house of cards and was completely unable to resist.

Meanwhile, as more and more middle and lower-ranking officers and soldiers within Guo Jun realized the situation, they chose to fight passively or even surrender and defect.

Guo Guizi has never been very popular.

Without the support of the young marshal, he simply did not have enough prestige to control the troops. The officers might have disloyal intentions, but the soldiers under his command only recognized the Zhang family father and son. Many of them had old-fashioned ideas—spending the money and taking the guns given by the old marshal, and then rebelling against the old marshal would be disloyal and unjust.

Around noon, under the cover of Japanese artillery fire, several more divisions of the Fengtian Army successfully crossed the river.

Wu Dashe's Heilongjiang cavalry brigade outflanked Guo's army and frequently harassed their supplies, achieving a pincer attack from the north and south, which caused morale to waver among the enemy troops.

Immediately afterwards, the Japanese successfully destroyed the White Flag Fort ammunition depot.

That night, Guo Jun's position collapsed completely!
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Wei Youren, a general under Guo Guizi, abandoned his commander and led 18,000 men in a forced breakout, hastily retreating back to western Liaoning.

The real battle lasted only two days.

With the overall situation settled, Xinmin County was surrounded and completely became a dead end.

Seeing that his plan had been exposed and his officers were disobeying orders, Guo Guizi simply quit. He ordered his men to accept Zhang Junjun's offer of surrender, while he led a guard of more than two hundred men and fled Xinmin County overnight.

He wanted to escape, but the Fengtian Army wouldn't allow it.

Wu Dashe immediately dispatched his cavalry regiment to hunt down Guo Ni in the surrounding villages and towns, and several other units also participated in the search.

Old Zhang was initially hesitant, not wanting to go to extremes, so he instructed his men that if they couldn't catch them, they should just let it go.

However, Guo Guizi had offended too many people, and at this point, no one was willing to plead for him.

The veterans of the Fengtian clique wanted to kill him to vent their anger, Chief of Staff Yang wanted to kill him to protect himself, and former subordinates of Jiang Chaoliu wanted to kill him to avenge himself—if Guo Guizi doesn't die, the anger within the Fengtian army will be hard to quell!
However, even at this point, the Crown Prince still wanted to save Guo Guizi's life.

Therefore, the young marshal issued an order demanding that his mentor be brought to his command post for trial.

Everyone knows that if these two meet, the result will definitely be that a big problem will be turned into a small one, and a small problem will be resolved. But who will bear the responsibility?

It might be hard for some to believe, but the losses caused to the Fengtian clique by Guo Jun's defection far exceeded the total losses from the two Zhili-Fengtian wars combined. Such a massive military and human disaster—why wasn't he executed and punished? In the end, the Northeast Security Command issued a death order—Guo Jun's rebellion was unforgivable; he was to be executed on the spot!
The Fengtian Military Police Corps immediately carried out the military order.

Upon hearing the news, Guo Guizi picked up his pen and wrote his last will and testament: "Brother Hanqing, I fought for the country and the people, and unfortunately this has come to this. I am the only one who has led the charge; do not blame your subordinates..."

Before the suicide note was finished, the military police commander led his men in, snatched it, glanced at it, and sneered, "Take him out and shoot him!"

Two gunshots rang out on the outskirts of Xinmin County. Right and wrong, merit and demerit, are for future generations to judge.

The crisis in Fengtian was finally resolved.

……

That evening, the Fengtian Army held a grand victory celebration banquet in Xinmin County. Officers of all ranks from both sides were present, raising their glasses and toasting each other. After all, they were still soldiers from the Zhang family.

However, the defeated generals were ultimately somewhat disgraced, and many senior officers were still uneasy, so the young marshal had to personally step in to appease them.

In contrast, the soldiers of Fengtian Army seemed much happier.

The battle lasted only two and a half days. With the cover of artillery fire from the Kwantung Army and the psychological offensive of the young marshal, the soldiers were promoted one rank almost without bloodshed. Anyone would be overjoyed, and Zhao Zhengbei and others were no exception.

He sat at a table with officers from the military academy who graduated at the same time. Half of them were from the Fengtian Army and the other half were from the Guo Army. Naturally, everyone's expressions were different.

An old classmate sighed and said, "Zhengbei, among our graduating class, you're the one with the highest official position now, right?"

As they were talking, some people started urging Beifeng to treat them to a meal, saying that he was a miser, that he had sent all his military pay and allowances home during his ten years in the army, and that he had never treated his brothers to a proper meal, which was really not very generous of him.

Zhao Zhengbei waved his hand and said, "Don't make fun of me. Aren't we all doing pretty well? Look at so-and-so and so-and-so, they've both become regimental commanders this time."

Lin Zhidong said, "How can that be the same? They were only promoted to regimental commander last year, and Lao Jin and Lao Meng were only promoted to major this time. You were already a lieutenant colonel four years ago, and if you get promoted again this time, you'll be on your way to brigade commander!"

"Forget it! Who said that if you get promoted in rank, your position has to go up too?" Zhao Zhengbei laughed. "You have to wait to fill the vacancy. There's a huge hurdle between a regimental commander and a brigade commander. And between a field officer and a general, that's an insurmountable gap. It's not that easy to get promoted. Maybe I'll be transferred to another place later, and I won't be leading troops anymore!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than several officers who had just switched sides said, "It's better not to lead troops. If we transferred you to be a county magistrate, or a municipal supervisor or police chief in a small place, you could make a lot of extra money. Wouldn't that be better than leading troops into battle?"

Nowadays, the emphasis is on "military and political integration," and there are countless examples of military officers becoming civil officials. Although the path they suggest is difficult, it is not impossible.

Lin Zhidong thought for a moment, but said, "No, leading troops is still the most important thing. A brigade commander with guns is better than a general without guns. What kind of world is this? Having guns and cannons is what really matters."

"Alright, alright!" Zhao Zhengbei quickly interrupted, "I haven't even become a brigade commander yet, and you've already given me all this bragging!"

"Hey, you still don't believe me!" Lin Zhidong said. "Just watch, once this storm passes, there will definitely be vacancies for brigade commanders, and there will be quite a few!"

"how to say?"

"Think about it, since we've all gotten on this pirate ship, even though the old marshal won't punish us, he probably won't give us important positions in the future. Gradually, all of Guo's high-ranking officers will have to be replaced. They won't be demoted in name, but they'll be stripped of their real power. So you'll definitely be able to take over."

"That doesn't necessarily mean it will be my turn!"

"Tsk, your brother's got connections. Let him pull some strings for you, and he might be able to get you a job."

Zhao Zhengbei suddenly lowered his voice: "Little Fatty, how many times have I told you, while you're in the army, don't mention my brother."

"So what?" Lin Zhidong asked curiously. "It's not something shameful. Besides, your older brother and sister-in-law treat you very well, don't they?"

"My sister-in-law told me to keep quiet about it, or better yet, not to mention it at all. If you do, I'll really get angry with you!"

"Alright, alright, I won't say anymore! Let's have a drink then, I'll be waiting for your good news about the promotion!"

The restaurant was bustling with activity. The other tables were also filled with people who were flushed from drinking. The soldiers were making a ruckus, and the barriers between them seemed to be gradually disappearing.

As the moon shone through the west window, the communications company of the command post suddenly entered the hall. Each of them carried a shoulder bag, which was full of all kinds of letters, all of which were family letters sent from the soldiers' relatives to the front lines.

These letters had been sent to the command headquarters long ago and had been checked one by one.

However, given the imminent threat of a major enemy, in order to maintain morale, the supplies were not distributed to officers and soldiers—except, of course, senior officers.

"Yao Taiqin! Where is Commander Yao Taiqin of the 3rd Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 27th Division? Oh, here's a letter for you!"

"Commander Cheng Tianxu—oh, your letter home, keep it safe!"

"Bi Yuntao? Captain Bi Yuntao—"

Many officers received letters from home and eagerly opened and read them. They found messages of worry from their elderly mothers, longing from their wives, and concern from their brothers...

Some families received two months' salary from the military governor's office, while others sent letters inquiring about which side they had sided with.

The flames lasted three months, and the family letter was worth ten thousand gold.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, everyone is feeling a bit homesick.

Lin Zhidong also received a letter from his father, saying that Marshal Zhang treated the people well and urging him to quickly abandon the darkness and embrace the light.

When Zhao Zhengbei saw that he had received a letter from home, he was also a little expectant. However, after waiting for a while, he still hadn't heard his name mentioned. He thought that perhaps the letter had been lost in the mail. This kind of thing happened from time to time, so it wasn't unusual.

Just as I was feeling a bit down, I suddenly saw a communications soldier looking around, muttering, "Has Lieutenant Colonel Zhao Zhengbei arrived yet?"

"Here you are!" Zhao Zhengbei quickly stood up and held out his hand to him. "Give it to me!"

Unexpectedly, the other party waved to him and said, "Commander Zhao, please come here for a moment."

Zhao Zhengbei frowned, then got up from his seat and walked towards him, asking in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

The communications soldier didn't speak, but led him to a quiet corner by the stairs before asking, "Commander Zhao, did you take leave to go home to visit your family before?"

"Yes!" Zhao Zhengbei said, puzzled. "But I hadn't even left yet when a fight broke out here. Why are you asking about this?"

The communications soldier took out a letter and handed it to him, saying, "The command has granted you a special half-month leave. You can leave the unit and go back tonight. It's not far from the provincial capital. If you need anything, we can send a guard to drive you back."

"Does a lieutenant colonel have such great privileges?"

Beifeng took the letter, carefully tore it open, and before he could even read it, the messenger relayed some terrible news to him.

"Commander Zhao, this letter says that you are currently in the midst of a family funeral. Birth, old age, illness, and death are all part of life. The military understands its subordinates and has granted you special permission to return home to observe the mourning period..."

(End of this chapter)