Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 166 Personality
Perhaps moved by Su Yaoyang's sincerity, the reporters exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the reporters' attitude had softened, Su Yaoyang quickly gave Pi Ruoyu a wink. Pi Ruoyu understood and turned to leave, calling over several staff officers and orderly to begin making arrangements.

Soon, the reporters were invited to an open courtyard. When they arrived, they found that seven or eight long benches had been set up, and several tables were placed around them. The tables were filled with tea, snacks, biscuits, soy milk, fried dough sticks and other food.

An aide walked in and said to everyone, “Gentlemen, our commander said that you have all come from afar and must be tired. I’m sure many of you haven’t had breakfast yet.”

To facilitate the interviews later, the CEO has prepared breakfast for everyone. Please enjoy it. He will be here in half an hour to answer your questions. Please feel free to ask him any questions you may have then.

"Oh... I can't accept this."

Seeing that Su Yaoyang had actually prepared breakfast for them, it would be a lie to say that the reporters weren't moved.

What's more, they had all traveled day and night from various parts of Shanxi, and many of them had only arrived in Wutai County this morning. Their stomachs were already rumbling with hunger, so how could they resist when they saw so many fragrant breakfasts laid out in front of them?
Soon, someone walked over, picked up a spoon and served themselves breakfast, then found a place to sit down and began to eat heartily.

Once someone took the lead, a second and a third naturally followed, and soon the reporters were all picking up their bowls and chopsticks and enjoying their meal.

Half an hour later, the reporters had all finished eating, and Su Yaoyang walked in with a smile, asking everyone.

"Everyone... have you finished eating?"

"Thank you for the meal, we've finished eating."

"That's good... Now that everyone has eaten, let's begin... Staff Officer Zhou, distribute the photos and documents to everyone."

Soon, the two staff officers distributed a stack of photos to the group of reporters one by one.

"Everyone..."

Su Yaoyang said from the side, "This is the valley where we ambushed the Japanese army last night. These photos were taken by our reconnaissance company soldiers this morning."

"hiss……"

When the reporters who received the photos saw them, they all gasped in shock.

These photos show countless Japanese corpses, with limbs and severed bodies lying everywhere. The roads are littered with bombed trucks, and they even saw the wreckage of several tanks.

"What you are seeing now is the scene of the Japanese 20th Division reinforcements being shelled by our army in the early hours of this morning. The scene is full of Japanese corpses and destroyed vehicles."

According to statistics, a total of 1,630 Japanese soldiers' bodies, 126 trucks, and 3 tanks were found. Moreover, many of the Japanese soldiers' bodies were so badly damaged by the bombing that we could not assess the results of the battle, so we could only give an approximate number.

That concludes the report on the effects of the shelling early this morning. Do you have any further questions? If so, please raise your hand, and I will select a few to answer.

"Wow……"

Upon hearing this, the reporters instantly became excited.

In one battle, more than 1,600 enemy soldiers and over 100 trucks were killed. This was a great victory.

In an instant, almost all the reporters raised their hands. "Hey... sir reporter, do you have any questions?" Su Yaoyang casually pointed into the crowd.

The reporter who was called on stood up excitedly. "Commander Su... although you have sent us many photos, the authenticity of these photos still needs to be confirmed. Therefore, we request to go to the battlefield immediately for on-site investigation. Is that alright?"

“Okay…” Su Yaoyang nodded. “I can send people to escort you all to the scene of the incident, but I must make this clear beforehand: once you are on the battlefield, I cannot guarantee your safety.”

Seeing Su Yaoyang agree so readily, the reporters were even more excited. Among so many reporters across the country, those who could personally go to the battlefield to report were extremely rare.

What... there are risks going to the battlefield?
Don't be ridiculous. What in this world isn't risky? You can even choke on water, let alone go to the battlefield.

As long as you go to the battlefield, take a few photos, and then publish a report, it will be news that causes a national sensation.

"Commander Su..." A slightly hoarse female voice rang out. She was a woman in her forties with delicate features, but her skin was rather rough and sallow, perhaps due to years of travel.

She shouted as she raised her hand high.

Seeing her anxious expression, Su Yaoyang pointed at her and asked, "Madam, is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Commander Su..." The female reporter saw Su Yaoyang pointing at her and excitedly called out, "I am Wang Jiahui, a reporter from the Shanxi branch of the Central Daily News."

"With the Battle of Wuhan raging fiercely between the Chinese and Japanese forces, is your decision to launch an offensive against the Japanese in Shanxi at this time intended to open a second front in the Battle of Wuhan and alleviate pressure on the main battlefield?"

Su Yaoyang couldn't help but chuckle, saying, "Good heavens, they've even come up with the phrase 'opening up a second battlefield.' To be honest, I, Su, really can't take that."

To my shame, I never even had that idea.

My recapture of Dingxiang County and my initiative to attack the Japanese invaders were purely out of necessity.

You may not know this, but according to reconnaissance over this period, the Japanese army in Shanxi had been frequently allocating supplies as early as half a month ago and stockpiling a large amount of combat materials in Xinxian County. Moreover, the 20th Division of the Japanese army had also begun to assemble in Taiyuan.

To say that the Japanese made such a big commotion not to deal with our Shanxi militia, I, Su, would never believe it. For self-defense… and also to give the Japanese invaders a resounding counterattack, we decided to launch a preemptive attack.”

"Oh...so that's it."

Upon hearing this, the reporters realized the truth, but also felt a sense of disappointment and regret.

I had expected to see a young officer, for the sake of the country and the nation, resolutely lead thousands of remnant soldiers to launch an attack on the Japanese army in order to relieve the pressure on the main battlefield. But the answer was truly unexpected.

Seeing the somewhat disappointed faces on everyone's faces, Su Yaoyang chuckled inwardly.

He wouldn't try to portray himself as some kind of noble and virtuous figure. It's true that he wanted to fight the Japanese, but there was no need for him to make himself seem so lofty and noble.

It's easy to rise to that position but hard to fall from it. Being a saint isn't so easy. Once you establish that persona, people around you will immediately scrutinize you with a magnifying glass, observing you from every angle. If you do anything wrong, you'll be met with a barrage of accusations and insults.

It would be better to tell everyone from the beginning that I'm just an ordinary person, not as perfect as you all think...

(End of this chapter)