Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 40 What's there to be afraid of?
Hearing this, Su Yaoyang glanced around: "Xu Dapeng..."

"Here!" With Su Yaoyang's voice, a burly figure stood up.

"Where's that American guy, John?"

"Reporting to Su... Reporting to the Regiment Commander, that American is still fixing that beat-up truck," Xu Dapeng replied loudly.

Su Yaoyang frowned: "It's been a whole day since we started repairing it, why isn't that broken car fixed yet?"

"This..." Xu Dapeng scratched his head, unsure how to answer.

Su Yaoyang shook his head helplessly. If he weren't currently unable to convert heavy equipment such as vehicles, he wouldn't have pinned his hopes on a corpse collector.

“Go tell that American that if he can’t get that junk moving today, he can just wait to die here with us, and he can forget about all his money.”

"Yes!"

After Xu Dapeng left, Huang Guantao hesitated for a moment before asking, "Commander... is the car you mentioned that dilapidated truck parked behind the yard?"

“That’s him!” Su Yaoyang scratched his head. “I originally thought that although that truck was old, as long as it could be driven, it shouldn’t be a problem to carry dozens of people.”

This way, the wounded and women can get on trucks, and we can escort them to Xiaguan, and then find a way to cross the river.”

Huang Guantao pondered for a moment, "That's not a bad idea, but I saw that truck earlier, it's really too dilapidated, can it even move?"

"Who knows?" Su Yaoyang said with a wry smile, "We can only do our best and leave the rest to fate."

After discussing it for a while, although everyone had doubts about launching a counterattack, they finally made up their minds under Su Yaoyang's insistence.

In Su Yaoyang's words, it's like casting a shot first, whether there's a chance or not; if things don't go well, you can always back down later.

However, Su Yaoyang did not commit all his troops to the attack. Instead, he left the First Battalion to hold the line while he personally led the Second and Third Battalions to launch a surprise attack on the Eleventh Regiment. The attack was scheduled to begin two hours later, at 5:30 p.m.

After the meeting, Su Yaoyang was about to go back to see his little girl when Li Gaoyuan and Huang Guantao stopped him.

Huang Guantao pulled a pack of Camel cigarettes from his pocket, waved it in front of him, and said with a smile, "Commander, let's go out for a smoke."

Su Yaoyang glanced at the two of them and smiled, "Okay."

Li Gaoyuan laughed and said, "Brother Guantao, isn't it a bit unreasonable for you to use the cigarettes that the regimental commander gave you to treat him?"

Huang Guantao spread his hands and said, "You can't blame me. I'm just a poor soldier. I send all my monthly pay home. My pockets are always cleaner than my face. I finally met a rich guy, so how could I not take advantage of him?"

"Hahaha……"

The three of them looked at each other and laughed.

A few minutes later, the three of them walked to the backyard of the church and sat down on a relatively flat patch of grass.

Huang Guantao looked at Su Yaoyang, "Commander... I don't understand why you insist on fighting this battle. You know we just underwent reorganization, and our brothers don't even know all the men in their own platoons yet. Is it really a good idea for the catmen to launch a surprise attack like this?"

"I know what you're worried about."

Su Yaoyang took a deep drag on his cigarette, casually tossed the butt onto the grass, stomped on it with his shoe, and then looked at Huang Guantao.

"Old Huang, let me ask you something... Do you think the Japanese will let us go?"

"Of course not!" Huang Guantao replied without hesitation. "That's right... Since the Japanese devils won't let us go, why should we be timid and hesitant?"

Su Yaoyang asked in confusion, "Instead of waiting for the Japanese to send reinforcements to attack us, why don't we take advantage of the situation before their reinforcements arrive and give them a good beating?"
Even if we fail, so what? The worst that can happen is death, right? What do you have to be afraid of?

As for the dead... From the Battle of Shanghai to the current Battle of Nanjing, how many of us have died? Especially during the Battle of Shanghai, we were sending in several divisions every day.

"We only have so many people, why are you scared?"

"I……"

Huang Guantao was momentarily speechless.

After a long while, he shook his head with a wry smile and said to Su Yaoyang, "It's laughable that I, who have been in the military for more than ten years, am not as insightful as a young brother who has only been in the business for a few days... I am ashamed... I am truly ashamed."

Li Gaoyuan, standing to the side, also asked with a strange expression, "Commander, do you know what makes you the most different from others?"

"Where?" Su Yaoyang asked curiously.

“Confidence!” Li Gaoyuan stared at him for a long time before finally saying in confusion, “What I admire most about you, Commander, is your confidence.”

At this time when the Japanese invaders were rampant and our country was destroyed, when our Chinese people mentioned the Japanese, they either hated them with a vengeance, feared them like tigers, or were trembling with fear.

Even we soldiers, who pride ourselves on being patriotic, faced the Japanese invaders as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

But when you're facing Japanese people, you exude a deep-seated contempt and disdain, as if you're looking at some kind of inferior person. That's what I don't understand the most.

Commander, could you tell me how you developed this contemptuous attitude towards the Japanese?

"Well..."

Su Yaoyang touched his nose, unsure how to respond.

Li Gaoyuan is really observant; he even noticed this detail.

Actually, this question is not difficult to answer. After all, as a post-2000s generation, Su Yaoyang and his generation of young people see only one enemy of China: the United States.

As for Japan, what does it have left besides its automobile manufacturing industry and its thriving adult film industry?

Once it loses the protection of its American "daddy," China could crush it in no time.

Even if China doesn't intervene, it might sink on its own one day.

Faced with a country that could disappear at any moment, where does Su Yaoyang get his sense of awe?

The reason was simple, but he couldn't say it. He could only smile and pat Li Gaoyuan on the shoulder, pretending to be magnanimous, and said, "The Japanese pirates are just a bunch of bastards from three provinces. With five thousand years of glorious history and 450 million compatriots, China will never perish at the hands of the Japanese pirates. What do I have to worry about!"

Seeing Su Yaoyang's genuine sense of pride and magnanimity, Li Gaoyuan and Huang Guantao were also infected by it. They exchanged a glance and laughed at the same time.

"Yes, our China has a splendid civilization spanning five thousand years and 450 million compatriots. How could a mere Japanese devil break the Chinese nation's lineage that has lasted for thousands of years?"

Just because we can't beat them now doesn't mean we can't beat them in the future. As Mr. Baili said, "Whether we win or lose, we should not make peace with them."

Even if our generation gives up, the next generation will take over and fight him. What's there to be afraid of... Hahaha..."

(End of this chapter)