On the eve of the fall of Liaodong, he led his troops in a remonstrance against the young marshal.

All eyes in the conference room turned to that corner.

Wang Yizhe twisted his neck, He Guozhu stood up, Liu Duoquan's hand was still on the pistol on the table, and even Zhang Zuoxiang turned his head slightly.

They were all looking at the same person.

The young man who had been sitting quietly in the corner since the beginning of the meeting, neither standing up to volunteer nor joining the others in banging on the table, was as still as a stone.

He looked to be in his early twenties at most. His cheekbones were slightly prominent, his jawline was strong, and his nose was so straight it looked like it had been carved with a knife.

He sat there, not leaning back in his chair, his spine ramrod straight, his hands resting on his knees, his fingers naturally spread, as if ready to grab something at any moment.

His military uniform was also very distinctive.

It wasn't the standard gray-blue general's uniform of the Northeast Army, but a dark gray combat uniform that none of the people present had ever seen before.

There were no rank insignia, no medals, no ribbons, only an embroidered badge sewn above the left breast pocket.

It was the head of a wolf with its mouth open, sharp fangs, and bloodshot eyes.

Wang Yizhe stared at it for a long time, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper, and he couldn't help but mutter under his breath:

"Who is this? He looks unfamiliar."

He Guozhu and Liu Duoquan exchanged a glance, both seeing the same confusion on each other's faces.

This young man was not in any of the Northeast Army's organizational structures.

The generals present were all veterans of the Northeast Army, and they knew each other well. But no one knew where this young man in the corner came from.

Zhang Xueming ignored the whispers of the crowd.

He waved towards the corner:

"Quji, come here."

The young man stood up in response.

He walked through the aisle between the long table and the wall. When he reached Zhang Xueming, he stopped, stood at attention naturally, his hands hanging down at his sides, his back straight as a spear.

Zhang Xueming patted him on the shoulder, turned around to face the generals in the room who were looking at each other, and spoke in a calm but firm tone.

Let me introduce it to you.

"Huo Quji, a commander and soldier of the First Armored Group Army of the Northeast Army."

The meeting room was silent for about two seconds, then it was as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water into boiling oil.

Wang Yizhe's eyes widened like copper bells, his mouth opened and closed repeatedly. He turned to look at He Guozhu, then at Liu Duoquan, and found that the two of them had the exact same expression as him.

Armored Army Group? What armored army group?

When did the Northeast Army ever have an armored army group?

Everyone present knew that Zhang Xueming had a batch of tanks, but those tanks had always been used as auxiliary firepower for infantry, and were scattered among Chang Yuchun's various units.

According to Zhang Xueming, the idea is to gather all these tanks together and form them into a separate army group-level combat force.

The commander of this force was a stranger who looked to be no more than twenty years old.

Zhang Xueming did not give them time to process the news.

He loosened his grip on Huo Quji's shoulder, took a step forward, his gaze sweeping across the entire room, and raised his voice a few decibels.

"I have decided to establish a highly mobile armored army group."

"It's not a temporary formation like before, but a fully mechanized armored assault force."

"Tanks lead the way, transport trucks carry troops, artillery regiments are self-propelled, and engineers, communications, and medical personnel all move with the vehicles."

"This armored army group has only one mission: to break through the Japanese defenses as quickly as possible, create a breakthrough on the Japanese positions, and then the infantry will follow up to expand the gains."

He paused, glanced at Huo Quji beside him, and then continued:

"This tactic is called blitzkrieg. Huo Quji was an armored tactics expert that I specially invited back from abroad."

"He has extensive combat experience in commanding armored groups and coordinating mechanized infantry operations."

"This time, he will lead the armored army group as the vanguard of the entire army as we march south to meet the 2nd Division."

The meeting room erupted in uproar.

Wang Yizhe stood up abruptly, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something.

He fought for the vanguard position for ages, only to have it snatched away by a complete idiot he'd never seen before. He was so angry he couldn't swallow it.

But before he could speak, He Guozhu stepped on his foot under the table.

Wang Yizhe turned around and glared at He Guozhu, who then gave him a wink.

The young marshal hasn't said anything, why are you in such a hurry?

Wang Yizhe turned to look at Zhang Xueliang and found that Zhang Xueliang was standing with his arms crossed, showing no surprise on his face, as if he had known about this all along.

Wang Yizhe swallowed hard and then turned to look at Zhang Zuoxiang.

Zhang Zuoxiang sat upright in his chair, calmly stroking his beard. His shrewd eyes swept over Huo Quji, then he nodded slightly without saying a word.

Wang Yizhe swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and sat down sullenly.

Huo Quji did not utter a single word from beginning to end.

After Zhang Xueming finished his introduction, he simply nodded to everyone.

His young face showed no sign of being flattered, nor the tension and excitement often seen in young people taking on important responsibilities; it was utterly calm.

It seems that serving as the commander of an armored army group was just a routine and routine task for him.

Zhang Xueming did not linger.

He took a neatly folded piece of paper out of his pocket, unfolded it, and laid it flat on the table.

It was a handwritten organizational chart, written in Zhang Xueming's own handwriting. The ink on the paper was still wet, indicating that he had just written it before coming to the military camp.

Wang Yizhe leaned over and took a look. The organizational chart was densely filled with unit numbers, troop strength, and equipment.

The 1st Armored Army consists of three armored regiments, each with 150 T-34 medium tanks, with 50 tanks reserved as reserves.

It was attached to a mechanized infantry regiment and equipped with two hundred transport trucks, each of which could carry sixty fully armed soldiers.

It was also assigned a self-propelled artillery regiment and an air defense battalion.

The total strength of the troops is 12,000, with 450 tanks and 200 trucks.

Wang Yizhe's lips twitched as he watched.

Four hundred and fifty tanks and two hundred trucks, that's fucking luxurious.

He had served in the army for many years, and the number of tanks he had seen combined was not even a fraction of this.

Moreover, those tanks were the terrifying T-34s, with thick armor and large guns, they were simply battlefield killing machines.

One shot could pierce through the Japanese tank.

Four hundred and fifty of these iron-clad vehicles formed an army group, running across the vast plains. A picture involuntarily surfaced in Wang Yizhe's mind.

Countless tanks lined up in a wedge formation, their cannons pointing straight ahead, their tracks kicking up clouds of dust that swept across the Japanese positions like a red-hot iron comb.

Just thinking about it made him feel like all the blood in his body was rushing to his head.

After Zhang Xueming and everyone else looked away from the compilation table, they folded the paper again and handed it to Huo Quji.

This is the steel torrent he redeemed with 60,000 points.

After exchanging the previous 80,000 points, plus the subsequent miscellaneous gains, for 450 T-34 tanks, 200 transport trucks, and the accompanying ammunition and fuel, less than 10,000 points remained in the account.

He almost emptied his family's savings, but he did not hesitate because he believed in Huo Quji.

In this battle, in addition to the specific troop deployment, he also gave Huo Quji an even more important task.

"This southward march is not just about wiping out the 2nd Division."

His finger traced the map from Fengtian along the railway line all the way south, finally stopping at the southernmost tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, a place circled countless times in red.

Lushun.

"Lushun was occupied by the Japanese for a full thirty years."

"I'm going to get it back tonight."

"Your armored army group is the first knife, and I want this knife to stab straight into the heart of the Japanese devils and kill them with one blow."

Upon hearing this, a flash of bloodlust crossed Huo Quji's eyes.

The shame of our nation must be washed away with the blood of the Japanese invaders.

He folded the organizational chart and put it in his pocket, then stood at attention, raised his right arm, and placed his fingers together next to his temple, giving Zhang Xueming a standard military salute.

After saluting, he turned around and strode towards the conference room door.

Zhang Xueming watched Huo Quji leave, then turned around and gave his final order to the generals who were still immersed in shock and excitement.

"All units shall immediately regroup and complete their assembly as quickly as possible, in accordance with the order of battle."

"Wang Yizhe, He Guozhu, and Liu Duoquan were organized into the central army and followed me south."

"Target! Haicheng."

"Once the Japanese troops' formation was broken by the armored group, the infantry immediately pressed forward, and the central army advanced along the entire front."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over each face.

"Tonight, let's settle things with the Kwantung Army."