Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 124 Reinforcements Arrive
Looking at the icons that lit up on the panel, Su Yaoyang's initial ripples of immersion in the gentle embrace vanished instantly.

The heavy artillery and aircraft he had been longing for finally arrived. If he had had a squadron of fighter jets a few days ago, how dare the mere Eighth Brigade be so arrogant in front of him?

What a pity (liao is pronounced with a third tone)...

Although the promise of an airplane has been fulfilled, it's not a quick fix for the immediate problem. Even with airplanes, it will take at least a year or two to train a qualified flight crew.

From its inception, the profession of pilot has been destined to be a high-end military branch. To soar through the blue sky, one cannot become a qualified air knight without sufficient theoretical knowledge, excellent physical fitness, and daily hard training.

Since we can't worry about air power for now, let's get some heavy artillery out first. The American Tom Cruiser seems like a good option.

By the way, I just got two thousand new recruits from Li Zongren yesterday. Besides giving 1,200 new recruits to Li Gaoyuan, Li Tao, and Hou Tianyou, the remaining 800 will be given to the artillery battalion and the air defense battalion.

Hmm... John's tank company also needs some reinforcements, and some of their Chaffee tanks need to be replaced.

The armor of the Chaffee tanks is still too thin. Why don't we replace them with a batch of Shermans?

However, I've heard that this thing is known as the "Lonson lighter" because it lights up instantly. Would equipping it with such a device cause significant losses?
Su Yaoyang closed his eyes to rest, but his mind was racing. He even drifted off to sleep in a daze.

This can't be blamed on Su Yaoyang. The battle last night was just too intense. When two women who are determined to leave him an heir get angry, few men can withstand it.

Although Su Yaoyang's physical abilities were much stronger than those of an ordinary person after being modified by that big-headed doll, he still couldn't withstand the two women's relentless demands.

In addition, I haven't had a proper rest these past few days, so it's quite normal to accidentally fall asleep.

When Su Yaoyang opened his eyes, the Willys Jeep had already crossed the pontoon bridge and stopped in front of the Guandi Temple.

After getting off the car and entering the command post set up in the Guandi Temple, Su Yaoyang was immediately invigorated by the familiar smell of gunpowder in the air, and the state of mind he had on the battlefield returned to him.

"Commander...you're back!" As soon as he entered the command post, Huang Guantao came up to him and saluted.

After returning the greeting, Su Yaoyang asked, "Old Huang, nothing major happened while I was away these past two days, right?"

"No." Huang Guantao shook his head. "Although the Japanese have launched several attacks against us in the past two days, they have all bark and no bite, and we have easily repelled them."

If I weren't worried about a trap, I would have led my men in a counterattack.

"You really dare to think like that." Su Yaoyang glared at him. "Are you tired of living a good life and don't know your own limitations?"

"The enemy is the Japanese 8th Brigade, which has several thousand soldiers. Charging straight at them would be suicide."

Huang Guantao chuckled awkwardly, scratched the back of his head, and said nothing.

To be honest, he had indeed considered this idea, but when he thought that if the counterattack failed, the Japanese army on the other side would definitely press forward, it would be a small matter if he died, but if he lost Taierzhuang and ruined the overall situation of the Xuzhou campaign, he would really become a sinner.

The two walked and talked until they sat down in a corner.

As soon as I sat down, the orderly brought me a cup of boiled water.

Just as he was leaving, Su Yaoyang called him back, took out a packet of tea from his pocket, and said to him, "Go... boil a pot of water for me and Deputy Regiment Commander Huang."

"Yes!"

"Wow... Commander, you've had quite a haul this time back in Xuzhou, even getting some tea."

"Hey...you know what, I smuggled this packet of tea from Commander Li's office."

Whether it's expensive or not is another matter, but at least the taste must be good, otherwise it wouldn't be worthy of the palate of a dignified war zone commander, would it? While the two were talking, the orderly quickly brought over a pot of boiling water.

The two chatted as they brewed tea.

After taking a sip of tea, Su Yaoyang nodded: "Hmm...it's really good."

Although he didn't know much about tea and his brewing was a mess, the bittersweet aftertaste and lingering flavor after a sip were undeniably real.

"boom……"

Just as he was about to continue speaking, a huge explosion suddenly rang out in the distance. Judging from the sound, it must have come from more than a mile away, but even from that distance, they could still feel the ground shaking violently.

Their expressions changed simultaneously, and they exclaimed in unison, "It's heavy artillery!"

"And it's 150mm caliber! The Japanese reinforcements have arrived." Huang Guantao's expression changed slightly.

The 10th Division's only four Type 89 heavy artillery pieces were destroyed by a tank company back in Fujiwara, which was the main reason why the 33rd Brigade Commander, Kei Seya, was transferred back to the mainland.

In the days that followed, the Japanese army could only use 75mm mountain guns to bombard the security regiment. If it weren't for the air support the Japanese army had, they would have been bombarded by the security regiment's 105mm howitzers long ago.

The sudden sound of 150mm heavy artillery fire confirms that Japanese reinforcements have arrived.

Sure enough, a series of explosions soon followed, turning the distant sky red.

Huang Guantao stood up: "Regimental Commander... since you've returned to oversee things, I'll go back to the Fourth Battalion."

“Alright!” Su Yaoyang wasn’t one to hesitate, so he stood up and extended his hand to him. “I won’t keep you any longer. After this battle is over, I’ll treat everyone to drinks.”

"Hahaha..." Huang Guantao laughed as well: "Then I'll wait to drink with the regimental commander."

Their hands clasped tightly together.

"Take care of yourself!"

"Take care, Commander!"

Huang Guantao saluted him and then turned and left.

Watching Huang Guantao's departing figure, Su Yaoyang suddenly gained a deeper understanding of this era.

In this era of war and chaos, a casual parting often leads to an eternal separation.

Just like last night, why did Song Mei abandon her girlish shyness and go along with Xiao Lu to please him? Wasn't it because she was afraid that he would never return and wanted to leave him an heir?

Similarly, who can guarantee that Huang Guantao will survive his departure?
It is precisely because parting is so sorrowful that Xu Da, the great poet and notorious scoundrel of the Republic of China, wrote the poem "Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again".

Ahem... I've gone off on a tangent.

He brought his thoughts back to the present. Now that the Japanese heavy artillery had arrived, the 16th Division should have arrived as well. They would definitely launch a fierce attack on Taierzhuang, and he would probably be quite busy from now on.

As expected, in the next hour or so, the Japanese army launched a multi-pronged attack on Taierzhuang with heavy artillery and aircraft, and the battle became a stalemate...

(End of this chapter)