Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 153 This is not the result he wanted.

Just as Su Yaoyang was amused by Yan Laoxi's stinginess, good news arrived. After receiving the telegram from Su Yaoyang, Li Zongren quickly mobilized more than 200 junior officers from the officer training class in Anhui and they arrived in Wutai County after more than 20 days of forced march.

The arrival of these officers solved Su Yaoyang's immediate problem and accelerated the expansion process considerably.

The weather in July was exceptionally hot and humid. Dust filled the training ground, and the scorching sun baked the steel until it was burning hot.

John stood on the tracks of a tank, the rough metal surface digging into his military boots. He took off his sweat-soaked cap and tapped it on the tank's armor; the dull metallic sound instantly silenced the noisy ranks.

"See this sloped armor?" His finger traced the tank's front armor plate, rust immediately seeping into his fingernails. "The Japanese monkeys' armor-piercing shells will ricochet, but don't expect this to save your lives. Only you can save yourselves!"

The tank at John's feet is a newly equipped M4 Sherman tank of the tank battalion.

When John first saw this tank, he felt despair. It was nearly three meters tall, crudely made, and had a gasoline engine that would start on the first hit. It was as if he was about to shout at the enemy: "It will start on the first hit, and it will always start on the first hit!"

For this reason, John even approached Su Yaoyang and strongly requested that the tank be replaced, even if it meant switching back to the original Chaffee tank.

But as expected, his request was rejected by Su Yaoyang.

Su Yaoyang's original words were: "Either drive a Sherman to fight, or drive one of the logistics department's tractors."

John, who was so angry that he was yelling, could only accept these big guys with a sense of grievance and helplessness.

The new tank crewmen listened to John's instructions with their heads tilted back, their faces still flushed from training. One young soldier was secretly wiping away tears from the engine smoke with his sleeve, leaving his face blackened.

With the roar of the gasoline engine, John jumped off the tank, kicking up a cloud of yellow dust.

"Now, let's practice in groups!"

His roar even drowned out the engine noise, and the tank crews scattered like startled rabbits, jumping onto their respective tanks.

A clumsy kid almost got his trouser leg caught in the rotating conveyor belt, but John, quick-witted and agile, grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him back.

"Kid... if you feel like losing faith in life, I can send you to the infantry unit so you can carry a rifle, a satchel charge, and go die with the Japanese monkeys."

But please don't die here. I never want to write those damn casualty reports again, understand?

After saying that, he shoved the green recruit aside and jumped onto his tank.

John collapsed into his seat, feeling as if he had done all the worries he could in his life in the past few days.

"Rumble..."

The tank formation started up, plumes of black smoke rising into the air. As the engines ignited, a wave of heat hit us, making us feel as if we were in a sauna, and a thin layer of sweat immediately began to seep from our backs and foreheads.

“God… I never want to be a damn tank soldier again.” John slapped his forehead, his eyes filled with numbness and despair.

July and August are the peak season for the lingering heat wave, with ground temperatures reaching 30 to 40 degrees Celsius and even 50 degrees Celsius inside tanks. The discomfort of fighting in such an environment is unimaginable.

Tank crew members often faint during training, so they have to keep a lot of water in their tanks.

Firstly, it allows you to replenish your body's fluids at any time, and secondly, it helps cool your body down.

After resting for a while, he stood up from his seat, put on his headset, and leaned out. Looking at the chaotic tank formation around him, a nameless anger welled up inside him, and he roared into the headset, "Third Company... Third Company... Your formation should be behind me! If I see you running in front of me again, I won't hesitate to make your entire company clean toilets for a week!"

"Company One, what are you doing? Anyone who knows will understand you're driving tanks, but someone who doesn't will think you're taking a dump! God... can you please get all these idiots away and never let them appear in front of me again?"

While John was frantically training those rookie tank soldiers, more than a dozen staff officers in the militia command were busy, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.

"Sir, this is the intelligence that has been transmitted back from Taiyuan and Datong in the past few days."

Pi Ruoyu placed a folder on Su Yaoyang's desk; inside was a thick stack of intelligence.

He continued, "After summarizing and analyzing, we unanimously believe that the Japanese army will launch a major operation in the near future, and the biggest target is us."

"What's the reason?"

Su Yaoyang didn't look at the intelligence report, but instead looked at Pi Ruoyu.

"There are three reasons."

Pi Ruoyu continued, "First, since last month, the Japanese army has begun to stockpile a large amount of military supplies in Xinxian County, and the original garrison force in Xinxian County has also increased from a company to a regiment, which is extremely abnormal."

"Secondly, according to intelligence, the 20th Division, which was originally guarding Taiyuan and Datong, has begun to prepare for the season and has started to assemble in the Shouyang area."

You should know that Shouyang is only about 400 li away from our Wutai County. If the Japanese army were to attack us, they could reach Wutai County in one or two days.

Third, the garrison troops in various parts of Shanxi are assembling very frequently. Based on the intelligence mentioned above, I believe the signs that the Japanese are about to take action are already very clear.

Su Yaoyang stood up and sighed softly, "It seems that Yoshijiro Umezu is about to lose his temper."

Pi Ruoyu said helplessly, "It's already quite patient of Yoshijiro Umezu to wait until now to make his move."

"What about the staff... have you come up with any plans?" Su Yaoyang suddenly asked.

Pi Ruoyu said, "The General Staff has also made two plans. The first is to actively defend, strengthen the defense of each stronghold and increase the number of troops. We must not let the Japanese invaders come over comfortably."

Secondly, we should concentrate our forces and launch a preemptive strike, taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese haven't attacked us yet.

"The second method is better; I prefer the second method."

Su Yaoyang made his choice without hesitation.

Seeing that Su Yaoyang made his choice without even thinking, Pi Ruoyu couldn't help but worry: "Sir... our troops haven't finished training yet, and most of them are new recruits."

"So what if you're a new recruit?" Su Yaoyang sneered. "Who didn't start as a new recruit? After a few battles, you become a veteran, don't you?"

For Su Yaoyang, passively waiting for the enemy to attack has never been in his nature. Offense is the best defense. This saying has been repeated to death in later generations, and even children understand it.

Moreover, Wutai County has just gotten back on track after several months of governance. If war breaks out here, everything might be thrown back to square one, which is not the outcome he wants.

(End of this chapter)