Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 85 Someone is looking for

Su Yaoyang's words quickly spread throughout the entire group, and everyone was stunned by them.

It is important to know that since the late Qing Dynasty, China has been in constant turmoil, with various warlords emerging one after another. It was a constant cycle of one warlord attacking another.

In times of chaos, human life is as cheap as grass, and this is especially true for soldiers.

In this era, if a soldier is injured or disabled, the military will usually give them some money and then send them on their way.

If someone dies in battle, there won't be much compensation. Generally, it's around 3000 yuan, which is equivalent to the price of a few bags of rice when prices are soaring. Its actual purchasing power is extremely low.

However, even such compensation is often embezzled by local government and military officials, leaving many families unable to receive it.

Now, Su Yaoyang has actually shouted the slogan of "never abandon or give up," which is unprecedented in an era where soldiers are treated as expendable resources.

When the wounded heard Su Yaoyang shout "Never abandon, never give up," they were all deeply moved, and their morale soared.

Just as the soldiers were moved by Su Yaoyang's words, some others were unhappy.

The setting sun stained the tent of the temporary command post blood red. When John kicked open the half-closed wooden door, the red and blue pencils on the marching map rolled to the ground. His rolled-up sleeves were stained with machine oil, and his brown hair was stuck to his flushed forehead with sweat.

"Boss... how could you do this?"

John slammed his fist on the ammunition box, making the helmet on it clang.

Along with John's voice, the faint roar of a tank engine could be heard outside the tent, and the smell of gasoline seeped in through the cracks in the door.

He stared at Su Yaoyang's uniform collar, his Adam's apple bobbing violently: "You can't be unaware that my Chaffee is worth a company's firepower!"
But you actually want me to blow it up!

"We don't have a ship big enough to take that 18-ton behemoth across the river!" Perhaps because he had explained too much, Su Yaoyang's voice sounded a little hoarse.

"Japan is right behind us now. The only reason they haven't attacked immediately is because they're afraid of the special ammunition we have."

Once they find a way to counter special ammunition, they'll swarm like locusts, you understand?

“But…but it was such a good tank.” John Miller slumped back two steps, his eyes filled with reluctance.

"John, we Chinese have an old saying: out with the old, in with the new."

"I promise you, after we cross the river, I'll find a way to get you another batch of tanks. This time, I'll get you a whole tank platoon."

"Really?" John looked up abruptly, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

"Of course, I keep my word." A serious glint shone in Su Yaoyang's eyes...

As the sun set, the sky began to darken.

On the riverbank, more than twenty small boats, each carrying a company of soldiers, left the dock and slowly headed north of the river.

On the south bank of the river, by the reeds, the Chaffee tank that killed countless Japanese soldiers in the Battle of Nanjing stood quietly.

Qiao Erdan, Zhuang Xiaoman, John, and the other three tank crew members stood by, looking at it with reluctance.

Gunpowder smoke mingled with the smell of gasoline in the twilight. John's knuckles brushed against the tank's cold rivets, his palms covered in rust and engine oil.

After a while, John waved his hand with a pained expression, and Zhuang Xiaoman picked up a bomb from the ground and stuffed it into the tank's chassis.

With a deafening roar, the Chaffee tank was thrown into the air by the powerful shockwave, its turret even detaching from the ground, the gun barrel pointing diagonally towards the sky like a broken eagle wing. Almost simultaneously, the dozen or so trucks in the distance were also doused with gasoline and set on fire by the truck drivers, and soon those trucks were also engulfed in flames.

The firelight illuminated the dock, and orange-red flames licked the night sky, casting flickering light on the soldiers' faces.

The wooden boat rocked gently on the river, its planks creaking under the weight of the boat. The soldiers silently lined up to board, their leather boots clattering on the planks, the dull thuds drowned out by the crackling of the flames.

A river breeze carrying ash blew in, stinging one's eyes and making them sting.

The boatman poled the boat slowly away from the shore.

The outline of the opposite bank was faintly visible in the firelight, like a lurking beast.

The lanterns at the bow of the boat swayed in the wind, casting flickering spots of light that illuminated the tense faces...

A misty fog enveloped the north bank of the Yangtze River. The damp, chilly air carried the scents of earth and river water. Soldiers trudged through the soft mudflats, their boots sinking into the sand with a sticky, slurring sound.

Someone bent down and scooped up the murky river water to wash their face, the water droplets that leaked through their fingers gleaming leaden gray in the morning light.

After a night of intense transport, Su Yaoyang finally managed to get the newly formed security regiment's soldiers to the north bank using more than thirty small wooden boats.

Su Yaoyang stood on the high rocky outcrop, his gray uniform already damp with dew. Looking at the lingering shadows of the transport ships on the opposite bank, he couldn't help but sigh, "Finally, we're here!"

"Yes, we've finally made it." Huang Guantao, standing next to him, couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"The Japanese were quite accommodating; they didn't send ground troops to pursue us. Otherwise, we would probably still be fighting a bitter battle with them on the south bank of the Yangtze River."

Li Gaoyuan glanced at Su Yaoyang and laughed, "Isn't it because they were scared by our commander's special ammunition?"

They're afraid we'll give them another beating. I reckon the special bombs we fired the night before last killed at least 10,000 men in the 6th Division. We even took the regimental flags of the 13th and 47th Regiments. How could they not panic?
I reckon Prince Asaka Yasuhiko is still furious.

"Hahaha……"

The three of them burst into laughter.

Amidst laughter, behind the three, the cooks were setting up an iron pot to start cooking rice. Wisps of white steam rose up, and the aroma of rice mixed with the scent of reeds wafted everywhere.

half an hour later

"Young Master... Deputy Commander Li, Deputy Commander Huang, come and eat!" Xiao Lu's clear voice rang out from not far away, startling the sparrows in the reeds.

"Oh...it's done so quickly?" Su Yaoyang said with a smile to the two of them, "Let's go, let's finish breakfast quickly, we still have to travel after that."

"Young master, hurry up, the rice porridge is getting cold." Xiao Lu ran over, stepping on the damp muddy road, with glistening dewdrops still clinging to the ends of her braids.

She took Su Yaoyang's arm and tried to pull him over.

Seeing this, Li Gaoyuan and Huang Guantao exchanged a smile and quickened their pace in perfect unison, giving the young couple some time alone.

But sometimes things just don't go as planned. Suddenly, the crisp sound of leather boots crushing dry branches came from not far away.

A guard came running up, panting, and stood at attention to salute the three of them.

"Sir, someone is looking for you."

(End of this chapter)