Chapter 27: Promoted to Major, Chu Yunfei Seeks Counsel

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“Hereby: Battalion Commander Zhuo Tianyu of the Fourth Battalion has rendered distinguished service in battle. He is awarded one thousand yuan and promoted to the rank of major.”

The telegram had come from the Headquarters of the Second War Zone.

This meant that General Yan already knew what had happened.

And things had indeed turned out exactly as Chu Yunfei had hoped.

Not only had Battalion Commander Zhuo Tianyu received a military commendation for the Battle of Ruyue Pass, but his rank had also been raised by one grade.

After reading the telegram, Fang Ligong wore an indescribable smile.

The men present immediately broke into applause.

Zhuo Tianyu saluted them in return.

Inside the operations room, Chu Yunfei opened his mouth and exclaimed, “Commander Zhuo, when the Fourth Battalion was first handed over to you, it had barely two hundred men, and its combat effectiveness was poor.

“In less than a year, you have forged it into a force that charges into battle roaring like a pack of wolves.

“In the Battle of Ruyue Pass, the Fourth Battalion fought with such ferocity that day and night seemed to darken beneath its slaughter. I truly admire you.”

“Indeed,” Fang Ligong added. “Commander Zhuo has been diligent, loyal, and devoted. He is deeply loved by his men and worthy of serving as a model for all soldiers.”

Zhuo Tianyu was visibly excited. “Regimental Commander, Chief of Staff, you flatter me. I am unworthy of such praise.”

Chu Yunfei waved him off. “Enough with the formalities. Let’s get to the matter at hand.

“Your Fourth Battalion suffered considerable losses this time. You have already seen the quality of the recruits sent to replenish your ranks. I intend to establish a new recruit replacement battalion devoted specifically to training new soldiers. You have years of experience leading troops, and you are particularly skilled at training recruits. I trust you.

“I want you to serve as commander of this new recruit replacement battalion. What do you think?”

For a moment, Zhuo Tianyu was stunned.

Was this a discussion—or an order?

“Regimental Commander, what about the Fourth Battalion?”

“I will temporarily serve as its commander myself. Don’t worry. I’m keeping the position open for you.”

“At present, I have no one else suitable for the post. The First Battalion once had a man named Zhao Cungang, but unfortunately he died at Ruyue Pass. Otherwise, I would have put him in charge of this task.”

Aside from Zhao Cungang, it was not true that Chu Yunfei had no one available.

However, if he appointed one of the company commanders below him, the unit they established would no longer be a recruit replacement battalion.

It would simply be a recruit company.

For a junior officer to advance to the rank of field officer was no simple matter, at least not within the Jin-Sui Army.

Without a distinguished record of service, Zhuo Tianyu, who had come from the Northwest Army, would have needed to endure several more years before receiving such a promotion.

There was no helping it. That was how warlord armies operated.

Besides, even the Red Party had its own saying: during the War of Resistance, no generals were appointed, and veterans of the Red Army were never kept below the rank of colonel.

Seniority mattered there as well.

For the moment, Chu Yunfei lacked the power to change such conventions. He would have to adapt to them.

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Zhuo Tianyu had received an education and was an intelligent man. He naturally understood what Chu Yunfei meant.

He immediately nodded. “Yes, Regimental Commander. Rest assured. I guarantee that I will whip these recruits into shape and make them fit to take the field against the enemy as soon as possible.”

“If I leave this work to you, of course I can rest easy!”

Chu Yunfei and Fang Ligong exchanged glances and laughed.

Two days later, the structure of the recruit replacement battalion was rapidly put into place.

This would not have been possible without the assistance of Qian Boke and Fang Ligong.

When Qian Boke heard that a new “battalion” was to be established and that a number of seasoned soldiers were needed to serve as instructors, he immediately recommended a group of veterans from within his own ranks, giving Chu Yunfei’s work his full support.

In theory, a soldier should not interfere in the development of local areas.

But under the present circumstances, there was no alternative.

Chu Yunfei knew perfectly well that Taiyuan could not be held.

Before long, General Yan would no longer be able to support the enormous number of troops under his command.

Fang Ligong, meanwhile, had reached his conclusion through his assessment of the overall situation.

General Yan had made the unprecedented demand that Chiang Kai-shek place the Fourteenth Army Group, stationed along the Pinghan Railway, under the command of the Second War Zone.

He had taken the initiative to request that Central Army forces enter Shanxi.

This was the first time General Yan had ever done such a thing.

It was not difficult to imagine how much strength the Jin-Sui Army would have left after the bitter fighting in northern Shanxi.

The Japanese offensive was as sharp as a drawn blade, its edge pointed directly at Shanxi.

Everyone had focused their attention on the Xinkou front while overlooking Niangziguan to the west.

Perhaps it was simply that those caught up in a situation could not see it as clearly as those standing outside it.

The fall of Taiyuan was only a matter of time.

The two men discussed the problem for half an hour, yet still could not arrive at a solution.

“Regimental Commander, it cannot be done. Xing County has a total population of no more than eighty thousand, and the vast majority of them are scattered throughout the villages. Taxes in Shanxi are already extremely heavy. Under these circumstances, the county simply has no surplus with which to support us.”

Five thousand men could not possibly be sustained by a single county.

Chu Yunfei knitted his brows slightly before saying, “The army has no battles to fight in the short term. Why not send some of the soldiers into the fields to work?”

Fang Ligong drew a deep breath and urged him, “Regimental Commander... Our forces suffered heavy casualties in the blood-soaked battle at Ruyue Pass. Many of the soldiers have already begun to feel fear and weariness toward battle...”

Chu Yunfei understood what Fang Ligong was getting at.

Desertions were very likely to occur.

Such things were common in this era. Chu Yunfei had treated his men well enough, had he not?

And yet, every so often, a few soldiers still deserted.

Some of those who were caught offered truly bizarre explanations.

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Some said that they missed home and wanted to return. Those were perfectly ordinary men.

What Chu Yunfei found most absurd was the case of one soldier who wanted to go fishing in the river during winter. His squad leader stopped him and beat him, so the soldier secretly deserted.

Chu Yunfei was utterly helpless. Before transmigrating, he had never imagined he would encounter anything like this.

As for soldiers of that sort, Chu Yunfei simply had them quietly released.

Men like them would be of little use on the battlefield and were quite likely to cause other problems.

As the military situation continued to deteriorate, the pressure on Chu Yunfei mounted steadily.

The “mass production in the base areas” movement he had once envisioned had long since collapsed.

General Yan redeployed his forces every six months to a year on average.

His 358th Regiment would barely begin developing a place before being sent elsewhere to garrison the area and suppress bandits.

Chu Yunfei had the will, but not the power.

The advantage of Xing County was that it lay far enough out of the way that the Japanese would not pay it much attention in the early stages.

Aside from its two coal mines, the county could serve only as a springboard for an attack on the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region.

At least two years of breathing room remained.

After Taiyuan fell, the Japanese would most likely continue their southward advance along the railway in accordance with their offensive plans.

By then, Xing County would become an isolated haven in a corner of the country.

More importantly, it would stand on the front line of resistance behind enemy lines.

With more than five thousand men, there was no way to divide the force into smaller units.

For the time being, there was truly nowhere capable of sustaining them.

They urgently needed to find a way out—

a way that would allow them to continue fighting in Shanxi while also feeding and supporting so many soldiers.

Chu Yunfei already had an answer in mind, but he still turned to Fang Ligong with an earnest expression.

“Brother Ligong, given the present situation, do you have any good ideas?”

Seeing the faint, almost imperceptible smile on Chu Yunfei’s face, Fang Ligong could not help sighing inwardly.

The two of them had already reached a tacit understanding during their earlier conversation.

Yet now Chu Yunfei was putting on an expression suggesting that his memory was not particularly good, as though he were deeply troubled.

He plainly wanted Fang Ligong to say it for him.

What on earth was the regimental commander trying to accomplish? What benefit could there be in cementing Fang Ligong’s reputation for resourcefulness?

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