Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 168 Emergency Situation
The night was deep.

"Jingle Bell……"

The phone rang urgently in the bedroom, and a slender, snow-white arm stretched out from under the covers and lazily picked up the phone.

"Hello...who is this?"

"Mingxi... is looking for you."

In a daze, Song Mei handed the microphone to Su Yaoyang, who had just fallen asleep.

Su Yaoyang struggled to open his eyes, using his left hand to move the soft, delicate body nestled in his arms to the other side, while his right hand took the phone and lazily placed it to his ear.

"This is Su Yaoyang. What's up?" Su Yaoyang's voice became more clear-headed. He knew that unless it was something particularly urgent, his subordinates wouldn't call his bedroom at this time.

A hurried voice came through the microphone: "Commander-in-Chief, this is Liu Kai, the duty officer. I just received an urgent telegram. During today's Japanese bombing raid, Regiment Commander Li Gaoyuan was injured by an aerial bomb and is still unconscious."

"what?"

Su Yaoyang practically jumped out of bed, pushing the large quilt to the middle of the bed, which drew two playful scoldings.

"Okay... I'll go to the command post right away."

Su Yaoyang quickly got out of bed, quickly put on his military uniform, and then said to the two women on the bed, "Song Mei, Xiao Lu, you two go to sleep first. Li Gaoyuan is injured, and I have to go there immediately."

Just as he pushed open the door to leave, Song Mei called out to him. She hesitated for a long time, her beautiful eyes filled with reluctance, before finally condensing into a single sentence.

"Mingxi... be careful."

"Young Master... please be careful. Mei-jie and I are waiting for you at home." Xiao Lu also pulled the quilt up and sat up, her eyes red as she gave him instructions.

Su Yaoyang turned his head and gave the two women a deep look, then smiled, waved his hand, and pushed the door open to leave.

When he arrived at the command post, Pi Ruoyu had already arrived before him.

"Old Pi... how's the situation?"

"The situation is very bad."

Pi Ruoyu's face was somewhat gloomy: "Commander Li was bombed by Japanese planes at noon today. A 250-kilogram bomb exploded dozens of meters away. Although he hid in the trench, he was still injured by the shock wave and even vomited blood."

But he still managed to command the troops to evacuate and take cover until he collapsed at dusk. People are currently being sent to Wutai Mountain, and he should arrive in a few hours. I've already notified the hospital; they'll examine him and arrange surgery as soon as Commander Li arrives.”

"These bastards!"

Su Yaoyang slammed his fist on the table and roared, "What are the air defense battalion doing? How come they can't even protect their own officers?"

"This cannot be blamed on the air defense battalion; in fact, they have done their best."

Pi Ruoyu explained: "The Japanese planes launched a sudden bombing attack on us. They suddenly emerged from the clouds, and the ground troops had no time to react."

Moreover, the anti-aircraft battalion retaliated immediately when the Japanese planes bombed. Had it not been for the anti-aircraft battalion's artillery fire, the ground troops would have suffered losses far exceeding a hundred men. And they weren't without their gains; they at least shot down one aircraft and damaged two.

Su Yaoyang retorted irritably, "What's the use? If Lao Li suffers any losses, even shooting down a hundred planes won't make up for our losses!" Pi Ruoyu remained silent, knowing full well how deep the friendship between Su Yaoyang and Li Gaoyuan was.

The two met when they were both struggling and were true friends who had gone through thick and thin together. They fought their way out of Nanjing, a place that could be described as hell, so their friendship was undoubtedly very deep.

Although nominally subordinates, they were practically brothers. It was normal for them to lose their composure upon hearing that Li Gaoyuan was injured and his fate was unknown.

He sighed softly, took out a cigarette and handed one to Su Yaoyang, lighting it for him before saying, "Commander, we are all heartbroken by Commander Li's injury, but the most important thing now is the defense of Wild Wolf Valley."

After Regiment Commander Li was wounded, although the newly arrived Second Regiment Commander Huang Guantao took over command, this was only temporary. We need to send someone to replace him as soon as possible.

“Yes, that’s true.” Su Yaoyang nodded slightly. “Huang Guantao’s abilities are fine, but he’s not tough enough. He’s good at commanding troops in defense, but if you ask him to lead a team to withstand the attack of a Japanese division and also find an opportunity to launch a counterattack, then he’s not quite there. We really need someone to replace Li Gaoyuan.”

"How about... I go?" Pi Ruoyu said after a moment's hesitation.

“You can’t go.” Su Yaoyang said without hesitation: “There are countless things to do in Wutai County, and it all depends on you, the chief of staff, to take charge. If you leave, things here will be paralyzed by at least half.”

"Then who else can we send?" Pi Ruoyu said helplessly, "We still have too few people who can handle things on their own. Are we going to send Commander Lu from the Third Regiment?"

Su Yaoyang still disagreed, "Lu Shaobin and the Third Regiment are also responsible for the defense of Wutai County, how can they leave?"

After saying that, he threw his cigarette butt on the ground. "Since no one's here, I'll go."

“You go… Commander, if you leave, who will take charge here? No, no…” Pi Ruoyu shook his head repeatedly.

"What overall situation are you in charge of?" Su Yaoyang waved his hand: "The biggest situation right now is Wild Wolf Valley. If we can hold it, everyone will be happy. If we lose it, everything will be over. We'll have to prepare to retreat to the mountains and live a hard life."

Seeing the determination in Su Yaoyang's eyes, Pi Ruoyu knew that he had made up his mind and that there was no point in trying to persuade him. He could only say helplessly, "Sir, since you are determined to go, I can't stop you. I just want to know which unit you plan to take with you?"

Su Yaoyang thought for a moment and said, "I can take the guard battalion and an air defense battalion with me. After all, Wutai County also needs troops to defend it."

"It's still not enough."

After thinking for a long time, Pi Ruoyu said, "How about this... you take the 2nd Artillery Regiment with you as well. This way, we will have two artillery regiments deployed in Wild Wolf Valley, which can offset the pressure brought by the superior strength of the Japanese army. We have the 3rd Regiment and the anti-aircraft battalion here, which is enough."

If...if..."

At this point, Pi Ruoyu paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "If the frontline forces are insufficient, I can also transfer the Third Regiment to reinforce Wolf Valley. I think that should be enough."

"No, no matter what happens, even if Wolf Valley falls, the Third Regiment must not move!"

Su Yaoyang refused without hesitation. Once the Third Regiment was transferred away, Wutai County would truly be an empty city. At that time, not only would the Japanese invade, but even bandits like Xie Baoqing could plunder Wutai County.

Even if all the other units are wiped out, as long as they still have one regiment left, they can retreat to the mountains and wage guerrilla warfare. Otherwise, once the entire battalion is wiped out, they will truly become meat on a chopping block, at the mercy of others, and even the bandits in the mountains will be able to bully them.

"Alright... that's enough for now. It's an emergency, I have to go!"

After Su Yaoyang finished speaking, he left without looking back...

(End of this chapter)